WTAF Christian Horner complainant suspended?!

[mumyes]

Red Bull suspend woman who accused Christian Horner of inappropriate behaviour

www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/68501426

Jesus wept. That poor, poor, woman.

The leaked texts clearly show it was an abuse of power & position by him.

How TAF is it now the woman that is in the wrong?!

Ime suspension is a neutral act, often done to take someone out of a horrible situation.

Given we know no details frothing over this is pointless.

I think if it was intended in a neutral or kind fashion they would have leaked it with softer terms "on leave with full pay pending blah blah blah".

Agree that the issue is not that they had a relationship but that he wasn't being receptive to her not wanting to continue. I don't see what her age has to do with it, women of any age can fear for their job and have senior male colleagues.

It’s not always neutral. They won’t have done it without some very expensive legal advice.

What’s your HR expertise?

My point was there is no point jumping to conclusions.

Who knows, it may even have been a vexacious complaint 😬

Typical - age old story I’m afraid so not surprised at all - sad to say

Indeed.

F* him.

I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, but it still amazes me that anyone who isn’t involved would express a view on the rights or wrongs of the suspension.

No one here has the slightest idea of what this individual may or may not be accused of, and what evidence does or doesn’t exist. To express a view in those circumstances is just idiotic.

This is just disgusting and just shows what power and money can do. How the hell can Geri stay with this man who has shown his contempt and dislike of women. Girl power my arse. He should be hauled before the courts but never going to happen, hope she gets a good lawyer and sues his slimey ass.

It never ceases to amaze me that women can absolutely decide that the man is guilty. Then they start on about misogyny without stopping to consider their own misandry.

What they really want is justice.. fairness.. the guilty party identified. And yet for that to happen there needs to be a totally unbiased, fair investigation. Which they clearly cannot do themselves without the facts, never mind their preconceived conclusions.

I don't know if Horner is the guilty party.. he might well be. He may also be the innocent party.

Irrelevant. I don’t need to be “senior in HR for 20 years” to share my opinion. Have spent decades in the corporate world and seen this kind of treatment of women time and again. So I will remain sceptical about Red Bull’s motives.

Me too @Jl2014

Ah. Everyone always has an opinion. (Like arseholes.)

Always more important than the facts, which nobody has. This sort of speculation is pointless. I’ve seen too many times that people’s assumption is proven wrong, but these processes are confidential so they continue with those assumptions and consider everyone else wrong.

Geri is a washed up ex-pop star on the wrong side of 50. Seriously, without him, there is no glamour or attention or being 'Mrs. Horner' with all that brings. Some women sell their souls for that stuff. She drank the Kool Aid - willingly. She must know deep down what he is but she has obviously squared that with herself. He is a sleaze but she wants to be part of it. On her head be it.

I would guess that she's been suspended either for leaking the texts, or for being dishonest in her complaint. But that's just speculation, like almost every other post in this thread.
As my old teacher used to say, it's a 'pooling of ignorance'.

Yes, it happened to me. I was in my mid-twenties, working for the European office of a major overseas multinational in Mayfair. I worked like a dog but the perks were good. I was very professional at all times. The VP was a sleaze. He would come back from business trips with his pockets full of business cards for escorts (lovely when I used to get invited to dinners with his wife who was undergoing treatment for IVF to give this pig his longed for son!). He had always been flirty with me but I used to bat it away and get on with the job but he then started being touchy feely.

I complained. He took umbrage and then all of a sudden, my work was no longer good enough and I was told they were going to let me go. In the meeting, I showed them emails, texts etc showing what he was like and their response? 'He is a man who brings in millions of dollars worth of business every year. He has been with the company for 20 years. Who are you?'. That is how it works and how it has always worked, especially in male dominated industries like F1 or as I was in, the aerospace industry.

BBC news at 10 said they “understood” the reason for the suspension was “alleged dishonesty”. Quite a punchy term. Red Bull must be fairly sure of the position to make known this type of language

I suspect there’s a lot more to this than meets the eye. They’re not stupid - they know this hasn’t looked good for Red Bull from a PR perspective, and suspending her will only fuel the fire, I’d imagine they have a good reason for risking damaging their reputation even further (and I’d bet the reason is better than keeping his job safe).

It was all starting to calm down and you only have to look at the response they’re receiving on this thread in response to them suspending her, to think there must be something under the surface or why inflict that level of PR damage on themselves.

I’d also say that the independent investigation was done by a KC - a barrister at the top of their game, it’s not easy to become a KC - and I doubt they’d be willing to potentially damage their own reputation and career by getting involved in a cover up to save the job of CH.

Someone on this thread says that her texts are missing from the leak. That is not true. The leak shows both sides of the conversation. Her photos are missing and the conversation is clearly incomplete, but there is enough there to see what was going on.

My view is that the WhatsApp screenshots are genuine. A lot of the conversation is too mundane to be made up and Horner hasn't even attempted a non-denial denial.

If they are genuine, they suggest that Horner and the woman were having an affair. Given that he is her boss, many employers would find that inappropriate due to the power imbalance. She then attempts to put an end to it, but he isn't taking no for an answer. At that point he is clearly overstepping the mark and sexually harassing her.

I note the claim that a KC cleared Horner has been repeated on this thread. As far as I can see, that is not true. Reports say the investigation was carried out by an independent lawyer. As far as I can see, we don't have any information as to the identity of this lawyer. That doesn't rule out the possibility that it was a KC, but it may not even have been a British lawyer. Information available suggests the lawyer was chosen by Red Bull's 51% shareholder, who is backing Horner and wants to keep him. One wonders if the outcome would have been different had the 49% shareholder, who wants Horner out, had chosen the lawyer. Given that the 51% shareholder is from Thailand, where attitudes are somewhat different, one wonders how this influenced the outcome.

There have been hints that Geri has told Horner he cannot have any further contact with the woman involved. If that is accurate, the only way Horner can comply with that is if one of them leaves RBR.

We don't know the nature of this alleged dishonesty by the woman. We don't know who leaked the messages, although clearly she must have some involvement. However, whilst it does look like she is a victim of sexual harassment, it appears she may now also be a victim of the power struggle inside Red Bull.

Amazing how Rev Bull ar prepared.to release the cofidential (?) reason for her suspension, but not the name of the lawyer who did the inquiry

Wrong thread. Sorry.

It is definitely not up to Geri who RB employ. RB need to have a fair lawful reason to dismiss either of their employees.

CH may have lodged a grievance or complaint about a breach of GDPR in relation to the leaked text messages.

Alternatively RBR or RBGmaH may have launched an investigation if they suspect the email addresses or the texts originated with data on their systems.

Suspending an employee on full pay does not/should not apply guilt but allows investigators time to do their job.

WRT the external investigator none of us are entitled to know their name. This is a private not a public organisation and they are not answerable to the media or the public.

The leaked emails have in all likelihood done far more damage to the woman involved. Yes it’s embarrassing and uncomfortable for CH but if the woman had anything to do with the leaked email it is likely she breached GDPR and potentially company policies.

From what has been alleged in the media the email was sent to FIA and FOM senior leaders as well as TP and media. If this was facilitated by email circulation lists held by RBR being used there are potentially two issues 1. unlawful processing of data and 2. Unlawful disclosure of data. Had the email used BCC rather than To it would have stoped the disclosure of email addresses.

I really hope that the woman involved had absolutely nothing to do with the leaked email.

THIS.

There is no way a KC would do this without having good reason. If he says the texts were doctored, they probably were

Where have they said it was a KC? I thought they were being cagey about who did it and in which juristriction?