EXCLUSIVE
According to his lawyer, fired football commentator Paul Kent has been dealing with his diagnosis of Asperger’s syndrome in private for almost ten years. claim for wrongful dismissal against News Corp.
Kent lost his job as co-presenter of the Fox Sports program NRL 360 and as a columnist for the Daily Telegraph after he was filmed arguing with a stranger outside a Sydney pub four months ago.
The 54-year-old man has taken the newspaper’s publisher, Nationwide News Pty Ltd, to the Fair Work Commission, claiming he was dismissed without ever being given the chance to explain his behaviour.
In his claim to the commission, Kent states that he told his employer about nine years ago that he had Asperger’s syndrome and that the condition is a disability under law.
Asperger’s syndrome is a form of autism that has a high-functioning character and can affect the ability to understand the environment.
People with Asperger’s syndrome may have good cognitive and language skills, but still experience difficulties with communication and social interaction.
Some may pretend repetitive behavior, a strong focus on one topic to the exclusion of all others, or difficulty interpreting what someone else is thinking.
Kent, who has worked at the Telegraph since 2000, apparently never wrote about his diagnosis of Asperger’s syndrome or spoke about it during his years at Fox Sports.
Fired football commentator Paul Kent has been struggling with a diagnosis of Asperger’s syndrome for almost a decade, according to his wrongful dismissal claim against News Corp.
According to the news, Kent informed the company of his diagnosis of Asperger’s syndrome around 2015 and denies that the company discriminated against him based on that disability.
Kent was given a two-year suspended sentence for good behaviour in July after he failed to press charges over a brawl that arose from the street fight, which falls under the Mental Health Act.
Defense attorney George Elias had argued that Kent had “punished himself with alcohol” after he was wrongly accused of domestic violence last year and that his employers had offered him “no help.”
Fox Sports and the Telegraph held Kent in custody for seven months while the domestic abuse charges – all of which were eventually dropped – were heard by the judge.
Kent was suspended again by both media outlets, just hours after video of the April 27 brawl outside the Three Weeds hotel in Sydney’s west went viral, three days before police charged him.
In deciding not to record a conviction for the brawl, Judge Jennifer Price took into account that Kent was suffering from severe depression and alcohol addiction at the time of the brawl.
Kent filed his application with the Fair Work Commission on June 18, two weeks before the brawl charges were finalised in court.
Kent was involved in a brawl outside the Three Weeds hotel in Rozelle, western Sydney, in April. He pleaded guilty to affray and was given a two-year suspended sentence
In that document, he calls his firing by News a “sham” and accuses the company of multiple labor law violations.
Kent claims News ‘acted in an arbitrary, capricious manner’ [and] ‘unreasonable’ by firing him on May 30, five weeks before the street fights came to court.
In his application to the Fair Work Commission, he argues that Kent’s role in the altercation did not warrant immediate dismissal and that he was not given the opportunity to explain what happened.
Kent says he informed News that he was disabled and receiving mental health treatment when the company asked him on May 23 to show cause why his employment should not be terminated.
Kent says his dismissal can be traced back to the day he was wrongly accused of attacking his former partner Lucy Kennedy at his Lilyfield home on May 12 last year.
Kent pleaded not guilty to assault occasioning bodily harm, common assault and strangling a person without consent. In December, all charges were dropped at Downing Centre Crown Court.
In his claim to the Fair Work Commission, Kent claims he was not paid by News while he was acquitted from May 14 to January 7, almost a month after he was acquitted of the charges.
Kent says his firing was “fabricated” by News after he objected to the company’s actions, including its treatment of him while he was suspended over domestic violence allegations.
In his claim, he alleges that during the period Kent was dismissed, News “failed to take reasonable steps and accommodations with respect to [Kent’s] disabilities, including his Asperger’s syndrome.
This perceived failure had caused Kent’s mental health to deteriorate.
Kent further says that News’ resignation policy and the company’s public statements about the domestic violence allegations resulted in him being subjected to “severe online and verbal abuse.”
The abuse included repeatedly referring to Kent as a “womanizer” and a “rapist” and people telling him they wanted to kill him.
The journalist also claimed that publicity had been generated about the domestic violence charges the night he encountered Tamer Uzun outside the Three Weeds when the case went to court.
Kent’s claim to the Fair Work Commission states that he told his employer about nine years ago that he had Asperger’s syndrome, and that the condition is a disability under the law
Kent had shot down 21 schooners in an eleven-hour session with his mates at the nearby Sackville Hotel and was on his way home to Lilyfield when he came across Uzun, who had been dining in Totti’s restaurant.
Kent was convinced that Uzun had “accosted” him with a reference to the domestic violence charges, so he challenged the 35-year-old and called him a “dog face.”
The verbal abuse between the two escalated into an exchange of wild blows, with Kent ultimately ending up with his head in the gutter.
Kent’s application to the Fair Work Commission states he suffered physical injuries, including broken ribs, and was later placed under the care of a psychiatrist.
News denies any alleged violation of labor law and claims that the company had the right to dismiss Kent on the spot under the company’s employee agreement for “conduct justifying immediate dismissal.”
A letter from Andrew Biocca, the company’s general manager of employee relations, sent to Kent on May 30, said he had initiated a physical confrontation in a public place “while heavily intoxicated.”
The letter described Kent as “an aggressor and instigator of the conflict” and called Uzun a “weak prick,” a “dog face” and a “fucking dog.”
Kent shot down 21 schooners with his mates at the Sackville Hotel in Balmain and was walking home when he came across Tamer Uzun (right), who had been dining at Totti’s restaurant
Mr Biocca also noted that Kent had removed his watch and resisted attempts to calm him down before the match, which had attracted significant media attention.
News found that Kent’s conduct was “particularly serious in his character and reputational implications” [the company]’ because of his ‘unique public profile’.
The court also disputed that Kent had been dismissed for being absent from work due to illness or injury, and denied that the court was responsible for the abuse he had suffered.
According to News, Kent was paid his salary while suspended over the domestic violence allegations, and he was on long-term leave and annual leave for most of that time.
Kent is demanding payment of all benefits to which he claims to be entitled from May 14, 2023 to January 7, 2024, as well as reinstatement of the leave he took during that period.
He also wants compensation for the deterioration of his mental health ‘as a result of the failure to make reasonable adjustments in relation to his disabilities’ and for ‘pain, suffering, humiliation and distress’.
Tamer Uzun has pleaded not guilty to the brawl in connection with the altercation with Kent and wants the charges dropped. He is due back in court next month.