LN To Appeal Unfair Dismissal Verdict

Live Nation has confirmed that it will appeal a tribunal decision that it unfairly dismissed and discriminated against the former front of house manager at Bristol Hippodrome.

"We will be appealing this decision and no further comments will be made," Philomena Gray, the company’s U.K. human resources director, reportedly told The Stage, which has since been confirmed by the head office in London.

The employment tribunal fined LN, the U.K.’s largest theatre operator, £40,000 and awarded total compensation of £42,209 to 51-year-old Ghannam Hussain, who was dismissed from his post last year for alleged gross misconduct. He’d been at The Hippodrome for 27 years, 23 of them as front of house manager.

According to the tribunal, Live Nation’s explanation for Hussain’s dismissal, which included claims that he had bullied staff, was "totally unsatisfactory."

It upheld Hussain’s complaint that he had been unfairly dismissed and discriminated against because of his age. However, it rejected claims that Live Nation had racially discriminated against Iraq-born Hussain and that it owed him money.