Lisa Benn, a 34-year-old official, claimed that she was 'physically manhandled and threatened' by former Premier League assistant referee and PGMOL coach Steve Child at a tournament in 2023 arranged to offer female referees video assistant referee (VAR) experience. However, an employment tribunal judgment found that Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) acted reasonably when it dismissed Lisa Benn after she lost her place on a FIFA officiating list. In a 32-page ruling, the tribunal panel also rejected an allegation of unfair dismissal but accepted a claim for breach of contract relating to a right to pay in lieu of notice. Claims for direct sex discrimination and unlawful deduction from wages were withdrawn before the ruling, which followed evidence heard by a panel sitting in south London last month.
Ms. Benn, 34, claimed she was grabbed by the arm and 'forcefully' pushed onto a pitch by Mr Child before the kick-off of a training camp match in Loughborough, Leicestershire, in March 2023. She also claimed that she had lost her position as a FIFA referee because she complained about his behaviour. The Women's Super League (WSL) official alleged Mr. Child, a former Premier League assistant referee, would not have acted in that way if she was a man. Dismissing a claim for harassment related to her sex, the panel accepted that a form of physical contact between Mr. Child and Ms. Benn 'did have the effect of creating an intimidating environment' for her. But the ruling said it was 'likely that Mr. Child would have done exactly the same with a male referee in the same circumstance, namely where he was frustrated by a referee who he considered was "going slow" to start a game that had been delayed and who had told him to "chill".' The judgment added: 'The majority (of the three-member panel) considered it relevant that on the claimant's own evidence, Mr. Child had previously shouted at mixed groups of officials. There were no facts from which the majority felt it appropriate to draw an inference that this incident was related to sex.' The tribunal was told that at the end of the training camp match, there was a brawl between the two sides, with Ms. Benn claiming that Mr. Child subsequently told her she was bloody-minded and that her card was marked. The panel said it had unanimously concluded that Mr. Child did tell the claimant that she was bloody-minded but ruled that he had not said her card was marked. The ruling added: 'The tribunal unanimously agreed both that the claimant subjectively felt an intimidating atmosphere had been created by the exchange and that, given the anger expressed by Mr. Child, this was reasonable in all the circumstances of the case. The majority did not consider that Mr. Child acted as he did because of the claimant's sex or that his actions were otherwise related to the claimant's sex but were rather the result of his frustration at the claimant's handling of the match, which Mr. Child considered had contributed to the brawl.'
Explaining its reasons for dismissing the claim for unfair dismissal, the panel said Ms. Benn's relatively lower rating compared to five other referees was the main reason for her 'dropping off' the FIFA list. The panel stated: 'The decision to remove the claimant from the FIFA list was made by FIFA in not accepting the sixth nominated referee and the consequence of that was the termination of the claimant's employment. In circumstances where the employment was entered into with the express condition that removal from the FIFA list would result in dismissal, and the main reason for the claimant dropping off the FIFA list was her relative performance. Our conclusion is that the employer was acting within the band of reasonable responses in dismissing the claimant in the circumstances of this case.' Upholding the claim for breach of contract, the panel said it was 'well founded and succeeds in respect of damages arising from payment in lieu of basic salary only during the period of notice.' A notice will be sent out shortly confirming the date of a hearing to decide on a remedy for breach of contract, the panel said. The tribunal was told nominations for the FIFA list are made by the referee's committee of the Football Association, which includes PGMOL staff. In women's football, appointment to the FIFA list entitles a referee to become an employee of PGMOL. Ms. Benn was employed by PGMOL from January 2022, with a clause in her contract saying that her employment was conditional on being included in the FIFA list. In March 2022, Ms. Benn was appointed to referee the Women's League Cup Final and took charge of her first international fixture in the same month. But in August 2023, a meeting to determine nominations for the FIFA list ranked Ms. Benn sixth, with only five higher nominees being accepted by the global governing body. The panel which ruled on the claims said it did 'not consider that performance management or warning was required in this case given the claimant was not a poor performer and was well aware that inclusion on the FIFA list was the result of competition with other high-performing referees'.
