Hack wins over bullying

A reporter on Rupert Murdoch’s News of the World, who suffered bullying at work, has won almost £800,000 for unfair dismissal and disability discrimination.

Matt Driscoll, who was sacked by the newspaper while on long-term sick leave for stress-related depression, won the award at an employment tribunal. It is understood to be the one of the highest payouts for work-related stress.

The award has wider implications, because some of the bullying took place while the paper was edited by Andy Coulson. He is now head of communications for the Conservative Party leader David Cameron.

Driscoll said: “Coulson was at the heart of all of this. I was subjected to unprecedented bullying and he did nothing to stop it, if anything he accelerated it.”

The tribunal found that Driscoll had been subjected to “a consistent pattern of bullying behaviour”. It said that “the original source of the hostility towards the claimant was Mr Coulson, the editor; although other senior managers either took their lead from Mr Coulson and continued with his motivation after Mr Coulson’s departure; or shared his views themselves”. Coulson failed to attend the tribunal to account for his behaviour.

Senior management at the paper sent Driscoll a barrage of e-mails, phone calls and visited his home to demand that he see a company doctor, after he went on sick leave. Driscoll’s doctor advised him to distance himself from the source of his stress.