By Bobby Chacko
A BBC journalist who was sacked for prioritising a report on the anniversary of violence in Sri Lanka over the birth of Prince George, has received £51,428 in compensation after he sued the news outlet for unfair dismissal.
Bandara eventually caved in to pressure by the BBC, and published the article online at 12:08 p.m that day.
Disciplinary proceedings followed from the corporation, and Bandara was found guilty of gross misconduct and given a written warning, The Telegraph reported.
However, a year later, on August 15, 2014, Bandara was fired following further allegations about his behaviour. Those allegations included making a derogatory reference to a co-worker and shouting at others.
Despite some evidence supporting the allegations, the tribunal concluded that the written warning he received over the royal baby coverage, played a large part in prejudicing the decision to dismiss him.
The tribunal described the written warning was too severe a punishment for Bandara, describing it as “manifestly inappropriate.”
“We are satisfied that [BBC manager] Mr Gonis was significantly influenced by the fact that Mr Bandara did not have a clean disciplinary record,” Employment Judge Vivienne Gay said, adding that an “inappropriate warning” played a part in Bandara’s dismissal.
She noted, however, that the tribunal was “satisfied that there was a culpable conduct which contributed to the dismissal.”
Bandara’s award and the main part of his compensation were cut by 75 percent, to reflect the ”culpable conduct” of the veteran BBC journalist, which made him partially blameworthy. The BBC journalist was ultimately awarded £51,428 (US$67,056) and an additional £1,200 ($1,564) in costs.
In additional to his unfair dismissal claim, Bandara also claimed his sacking was related to racial discrimination, stating that he was unfairly targeted because of his views on Tamil people being persecuted by the Sinhalese-dominated government of Sri Lanka.
That claim was unsuccessful, with the tribunal finding that his dismissal was not race related.
Responding to the ruling, a spokeswoman for the BBC said the news outlet “takes disciplinary matters very seriously,” adding that it is “disappointed with the outcome of this unfair dismissal claim.”