Red Bull employee to approach employment tribunal if appeal over Christian Horner fails: Report

The female employee of Red Bull Racing, who had registered a complaint of inappropriate behaviour against team principal Christian Horner, is set to take the case to an employment tribunal should an appeal against her grievance dismissal fails. According to a report in The Guardian, should the female employee go to the tribunal, her actions would potentially put the private details of the case up until now, that has haunted Horner and his Red Bull team for the last two months.

In 2023, Horner had been accused of sexual harassment by the female employee, who has not been named thus far. She had accused Horner of behaving aggressively towards her. An investigation was then launched by Red Bull in early February but was cleared of the allegations later in February. The fame employee then launched an appeal against the said decision.

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Red Bull have also not provided details of the investigation, including neither the name of the King's Counsel (KC), nor the nature of the complaint or its findings. Horner, however, has denied any wrongdoings and demanded a line to be drawn in the controversy. Legal experts, however, believe it could be yet another long process should the woman go ahead with the appeal at the employment tribunal. “It’s like a roadmap, these are the stops along the way,” Tania Goodman, the head of employment and a partner of the law firm Collyer Bristow told The Guardian.

“If an employee has a complaint or grievance, they raise it internally, perhaps informally at first but if it’s not resolved then it becomes formal and is investigated and ­considered, usually as part of a grievance hearing after which an outcome is given. If the employee is not happy with the decision, then they can appeal internally and at the end of that process if they’re still not satisfied they can go to an employment tribunal," she added.

An e-mail was leaked to the FIA, F1, the media as well as the teams which contained messages that claimed were between the employee and Horner. The genuineness of the messages are yet to be confirmed by Red Bull. The speculation surrounding the case, however, has remained rife.

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“In those circumstances [going to an employment tribunal] the ­confidentiality that attaches to internal procedures would no longer apply,” added Goodman.

“A final hearing is open to the public ­during which information about the case is ­available ­including the nature of the complaints, ­witness ­evidence, ­submissions, the ­tribunal’s conclusions, and a written judgment," she said.

With her grievance having been dismissed, the female employee has been suspended from Red Bull Racing, based on the evidence she gave during a disciplinary investigation. The appeal process though is ongoing and there has been no clarification from Red Bull on when that will conclude.