Barrister sacked for tweeting about 'stroppy teenager of colour' loses £3m discrimination case

A barrister who was sacked for posting a tweet calling a schoolgirl a "stroppy teenager of colour" has lost a £3m discrimination case against his employers.

Jon Holbrook was fired by Cornerstone Barristers in January 2021 after tweeting about Ruby Williams, who had been repeatedly sent home from school because of her afro hair.

Williams received £8,500 in an out-of-court settlement the previous year after her family took legal action against The Urswick School in Hackney, east London.

But Holbrook tweeted in January last year: "The Equality Act undermines school discipline by empowering the stroppy teenager of colour."

He was subsequently expelled from his chambers, leading him to take legal action against his employers, demanding to be allowed to return to full-time work as a barrister and £3m in compensation.

However, his case was dismissed by an employment tribunal last week because he had waited too long to bring it.

A preliminary hearing in London heard that Holbrook is a "social conservative" and a "critic of identity politics".

It was told that Holbrook argued his tweet was an "expression of the conservative belief that it is important to emphasise what people can share, whereas the modern-day left, particularly on the issue of race and culture, tend to celebrate what makes people different".

Holbrook claimed his chambers had discriminated against him following his tweet and that he was treated "less favourably" because of his "conservative beliefs such as ones that challenged identity politics, multiculturalism and 'woke' ideas".

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However, Cornerstone said: "The catalyst for action was not (Holbrook's) 'socially conservative' views, which he had been expressing in publications and social media for many years, but a single tweet."

The hearing was told they "acted as they did because of the tweet (and in particular because it was offensive and regarded as discriminatory), and not because of (his) 'social conservatism'".

Under tribunal rules, discrimination claims of this kind have to be submitted within three months, but Holbrook waited five months before he made his claim, the tribunal heard.

The barrister claimed the delay was due to his initial belief that his case would not be successful under equality laws and asked for the time limit to be extended.

But Judge Jillian Brown said: "On the facts, his failure to bring his claim in the three-month limitation period was his own considered decision.

"He did not rely on advice from others. He did not conduct any research into discrimination law time limits.

"He was well aware of the three-month time limit for bringing claims to employment tribunals, particularly in relation to unfair dismissal claims.

"He is a barrister of longstanding call. He could easily have conducted his own research and established the time limits for his discrimination claim."

Holbrook said he intends to appeal against the ruling.

In March, he won an appeal against a £500 fine he received from the Bar Standards Board for a tweet to a Muslim journalist in which he wrote: "Free speech is dying and Islamists and other Muslims are playing a central role".

However, Holbrook successfully argued the tweet was not offensive enough to warrant sanction.