‘Inconsolable’ McCririck fears for future
A Central London Employment Tribunal panel ruled against the 73-year-old racing pundit, who argued he was sacked by the broadcaster because of his age.
McCririck felt he lost his high-profile role on Channel 4 Racing due to a drive from “anonymous suits and skirts” to hire younger faces and took his former employer and television production company IMG Media Limited to the tribunal.
In an emotional interview with BBC Radio 5 Live yesterday, McCririck described himself as “desolate and inconsolable”, but said he had to accept the tribunal’s decision.
Asked about being a pariah, he said: “Of course you are.
“Once you are sacked, you would hard-pressed to get another job, it’s very very hard, once you get a high-profile sacking like this nobody wants you to do any jobs. You’re marked down.
“I would do anything my employer asks. Everybody who works for someone listens to what their bosses tell them, and I would. The problem in my case was no-one ever talked to me.
“No-one ever said ’will you change this, will you do something different’.”
The tribunal said McCririck was sacked because his “pantomime persona” was “unpalatable” to a wide audience and that he could be seen by some as “arrogant and confrontational”.
The former bookmaker and journalist does not regret his decision to pursue the case, but said: “It’s cost a six-figure sum, and we’ll probably have to equity mortgage the house but that sort of thing happens and I couldn’t live with myself if I had taken it lying down.”
