EXCLUSIVE
Sacked football commentator Paul Kent has privately been dealing with a diagnosis of Asperger’s syndrome for almost a decade, according to his unfair dismissal claim against News Corp.
Kent lost his jobs co-hosting Fox Sports program NRL 360 and writing columns for the Daily Telegraph after he was filmed four months ago brawling with a stranger outside a Sydney pub.
The 54-year-old has taken the newspaper’s publisher Nationwide News Pty Ltd to the Fair Work Commission, alleging he was given the boot without ever getting a chance to explain his conduct.
His claim before the commission states Kent told his employer about nine years ago he suffered from Asperger’s syndrome, and that the condition is a disability under the law.
Asperger’s syndrome is a ‘high-functioning’ form of autism disorder which can affect a person’s understanding of what is going on around them.
People with Asperger’s might have good cognitive and language skills but still experience difficulties with communication and social interaction.
Some might exhibit repetitive behaviour, have an intense focus on one topic to the exclusion of all others, or have trouble interpreting what someone else is thinking.
Kent, who has hired by the Telegraph in 2000, does not appear to have ever written about his Asperger’s diagnosis, or discussed it during his years on Fox Sports.
Sacked football commentator Paul Kent has been privately dealing with a diagnosis of Asperger’s syndrome for almost a decade, according to his unfair dismissal claim against News Corp.
News disputes Kent informed the company of his Asperger’s diagnosis in or around 2015 and denies it discriminated against him on the basis of that disability.
Kent was put on a two-year good behaviour bond in July after failing to have an affray charge which stemmed from the street fight dealt with under the Mental Health Act.
Lawyer George Elias had submitted Kent ‘punished himself with alcohol’ after being wrongly accused of domestic violence offences last year and his employers had offered him ‘no help’.
Fox Sports and the Telegraph stood Kent down for seven months while the domestic violence charges – which were all eventually dismissed – made their way through the courts.
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 inner-west went viral, three days before police charged him.
In deciding not to record a conviction for the affray, magistrate Jennifer Price took into account that Kent was suffering from major depression and alcohol use disorder at the time of the brawl.
Kent’s application before the Fair Work Commission was lodged on June 18, two weeks before the affray charge was finalised in court.
Kent was involved in a brawl outside the Three Weeds hotel at Rozelle in Sydney’s west in April. He pleaded guilty to affray and was put on a two-year good behaviour bond
He has labelled his sacking by News a ‘sham’ in that document, accusing the company of multiple breaches of employment law.
Kent alleges News ‘acted in a way that was arbitrary, capricious [and] unreasonable’ by dismissing him on May 30, five weeks before the street fight was dealt with in court.
His Fair Work Commission application states Kent’s role in the altercation did not justify instant dismissal and he was not given an opportunity to explain what occurred.
Kent says he advised News he was unfit for work and receiving mental health treatment when the company asked him on May 23 to show cause why his employment should not be terminated.
According to Kent, his sacking can be traced back to when 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 choking a person without consent and all charges were dismissed in December at Downing Centre Local Court.
In his Fair Work Commission claim, Kent states he was not paid by News while stood down from May 14 until January 7 – almost a month after he was cleared of the charges.
Kent says his sacking was ‘concocted’ by News after he objected to the company’s actions including its treatment of him while suspended over the domestic violence allegations.
His claim states during the time Kent was stood down News had ‘failed to take reasonable steps and adjustments in relation to [Kent’s] disabilities, including his Asperger’s syndrome’.
That alleged failure had led to a deterioration in Kent’s mental health.
Kent further says the stand-down direction by News and public statements it made about the domestic violence charges led to him being subjected to ‘significant online and verbal abuse’.
That abuse included repeated references to Kent being a ‘woman basher’ and ‘rapist’ and people telling him they wanted him to die.
The journalist also claimed publicity over the domestic violence charges for what happened on the night he encountered Tamer Uzun outside the Three Weeds when that matter went to court.
Kent’s claim before the Fair Work Commission states he told his employer about nine years ago he suffered from Asperger’s syndrome, and that the condition is a disability under the law
Kent had downed 21 schooners in an 11-hour session with mates at the nearby Sackville Hotel and was walking home to Lilyfield when he ran into Uzun, who had been dining at Totti’s restaurant.
Believing Uzun had ‘s*** talked’ him with a reference to the domestic violence charges, Kent challenged the 35-year-old and called him a ‘dog head’.
Verbal abuse between the pair escalated into an exchange of wild blows which finished with Kent landing head-first in a gutter.
Kent’s Fair Work Commission application states he suffered physical injuries including broken ribs and was later placed in the care of a psychiatrist.
News denies each alleged contravention of workplace laws and maintains it was entitled to summarily sack Kent under its employees’ enterprise agreement for ‘conduct that justifies instant dismissal’.
A letter from the company’s general manager of employee relations, Andrew Biocca, sent to Kent on May 30 stated he had initiated a physical altercation in a public place ‘whilst heavily intoxicated’.
The letter described Kent as ‘an aggressor and instigator of the altercation’ and cited him calling Uzun a ‘weak c***’, ‘dog head’ and ‘f***ing dog’.
Kent downed 21 schooners with mates at Balmain’s Sackville Hotel and was walking home when he ran into Tamer Uzun (right), who had been dining at Totti’s restaurant
Mr Biocca also noted Kent had removed his watch and resisted attempts to placate him before the fight, which had attracted significant media attention.
News considered Kent’s behaviour was ‘especially serious in its character and consequences for the reputation of [the company]’ due to his ‘unique public profile’.
It also disputed Kent was dismissed for being absent from work due to illness or injury and denied it was responsible for any abuse he had suffered.
News states it paid Kent his salary while he was stood down over the domestic violence allegations and he had taken long service and annual leave leave for most of that time.
Kent is seeking payment of all entitlements he says he is owed from May 14, 2023 to January 7, 2024, as well as reinstatement of leave used during that time.
He also wants compensation for deterioration of his mental health ‘due to a failure to make reasonable adjustments in relation to his disabilities’ and for ‘pain, suffering, humiliation and stress’.
Tamer Uzun has pleaded not guilty to affray in relation to the altercation with Kent and is seeking to have the charge withdrawn. He is due back in court next month.
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