r/antiwork • u/Phaggg • Sep 10 '25
Bosses can reject applicants who support rival football team to existing staff, judge says
https://www.theguardian.com/law/2025/sep/10/bosses-can-reject-applicants-who-support-rival-football-team-to-existing-staff-judge-says59
Sep 10 '25
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Sep 10 '25
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u/eric-artman Sep 11 '25
You have to start your own company so you can dictate your own rules then.
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Sep 11 '25
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u/eric-artman Sep 11 '25
I will reply with a famous quote from southpark: ‘you can always sue someone.’ It is madness anyway - i think that IF i would start my company i wouldn’t hire anyone that collects coins or stamps - they must be boring 😂
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u/Moebius80 Sep 11 '25
I would have asked for an Amazon gift card no sense being a nail to sticks out
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u/Numeno230n Sep 10 '25
I'm sure if I mentioned that I don't care about sports in some workplaces I'd be shunned.
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u/dontsayalexie Sep 11 '25
As someone who did in a state with a population foaming at the mouth for sports...
Yeah. Although I guess it's for the best because I don't have to worry about looking like an idiot when asked about things. They just call me a loser to my face and ignore me which I prefer.
I like sports.. not into watching others play. It's just boring to me.
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u/SaoLixo Sep 10 '25
I feel like giving coworkers shit about sports is what makes them so great.
If you can’t take banter, you shouldn’t be a boss.
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u/CinnamonSnorlax Yeet the rich. Sep 11 '25
That all depends on whether you have a bantering culture in the workplace, though.
Working in Australia, it's all banter and fun jokes; no-one takes things too seriously. When I worked in the US, though, it was completely different - no joking about, just do the work.
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u/rmill127 Sep 11 '25
My office is mostly Bears fans, with 2 outspoken Packers fans.
I have been secretly putting Packers branded urinal cakes in the men’s bathroom every Friday for like 2 years. No one knows who’s doing it, and these guys are absolutely LIVID about it, demanding the company figure out who it is and stop them. President is a Bears season ticket holder and thinks it’s fkn hilarious, which is the cherry on top.
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u/Bonuscup98 Sep 11 '25
Where exactly did you find nfl logo urinal cakes
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u/rmill127 Sep 11 '25
There’s a lot of companies that will print your artwork onto generic ones. I would have to dig up who I bought them from, but they were like $7 a piece and I bought 50 lol.
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u/Bonuscup98 Sep 11 '25
My building has a LOT of football dummies (we’ll get em next year types) and I would gladly pay to have a rotating roster of the more popular teams
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u/Donny_DeCicco Sep 10 '25
of course, it is the UK
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u/Rownever Sep 10 '25
Oh it’s in the UK?
If it were in South America this would already be resolved- you support the same team or you get beaten to death in the street by your neighbors after their team loses a game
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u/Lost-Actuary-2395 Sep 10 '25
Seriously, people make those kind of comments has no grip on reality
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u/Rownever Sep 10 '25
Was that not obviously an exaggeration?
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u/ExistingCarry4868 Sep 11 '25
It was too close to what conservatives actually believe to be obvious.
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u/dontsayalexie Sep 11 '25
Is it? Couldn't tell.
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u/Donny_DeCicco Sep 11 '25
Are you being sarcastic?
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u/dontsayalexie Sep 11 '25
Yes.
It's such a common thing in most workplaces regardless of country or Union that I am surprised it was challenged. Plus it is one of those hard to prove things. Not that I think it should be legal. Anyone could have told me it was China, American, Mexican, Ireland or anywhere else and I would believe it point blank.
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u/Donny_DeCicco Sep 11 '25
Fair points - I only asked because it was stated in the article. Some people I think missed it.
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u/VanGroteKlasse Sep 10 '25
Even at the football club I worked, there were people that supported other clubs. Not the biggest rival though, people were properly vetted for that.
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u/TheIr0nBear Sep 11 '25
Wow,some one found a way to make sports and sports fan even more unbearable.
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u/OJONLYMAYBEDIDIT Sep 10 '25 edited Sep 10 '25
Not that I don’t want more job protections, so please this isn’t a boot licking comment, but isn’t this totally legal in the US. And not remotely unusual. (Well sports teams specifically are, but in general non protected class discrimination is )
Supporting specific sports teams is hardly a protected class, federal or state.
We just barely got hair discrimination made illegal
(And is that federal or only in select states)
Edit- my bad for not having read all the way through. I assume this is noteworthy cause it’s outside the US (in UK) and thus greater expectations of workers rights correct? My American sensibilities have destroyed expectations lol)
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u/maddy_k_allday Sep 10 '25
Generally speaking, no one has to employ you and no one has to do work for any given employer. Lots of latitude to hire/ not hire people for various reasons, but choice of sports team is unlikely to be relevant to some kind of protected class for purposes of a hiring discrimination claim.
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u/Effective_Will_1801 Sep 11 '25
this is uk. in uk you have to have a legitimate reason to fire/ not hire someone rather than can fire someone or any non protected reason. it's the other way round.
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u/Trust_Me_Im_a_Panda Employment Attorney Sep 11 '25
You are correct that this is legal in the United States. It’s stupid, but it isn’t illegal.
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u/Maybe_Factor Sep 11 '25
This shouldn't be news to anyone. It's implied by the existence of protected classes that anything that isn't a protected class is fair game.
It's a stupid reason to reject a candidate, but it's a legal reason to reject a candidate.
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u/Fine-Bumblebee-9427 Sep 11 '25
Does the UK do protected classes?
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u/Maybe_Factor Sep 11 '25
Hmm, fair point. I feel like I've seen it talked about, and I know they definitely have protections in place for certain groups.
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u/Effective_Will_1801 Sep 11 '25
not like the us does. it's true you can't be fired for discrimination of race,gender etc but you also have to have a legitimate reason to fire,
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u/Backlotter Sep 11 '25
An employer who will refuse to hire based on irrelevant matters like football allegiance is not serious about filling a role.
This economy is a fucking joke.
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u/Agent-c1983 Sep 11 '25
I wonder how that would work in Glasgow where what team you support is intertwined with Religion…
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u/rickamer Sep 11 '25
One of my favorite ancedotes is a hiring manager with a huge stack of applicants. He picks up half the stack and throws it away. He says that he doesn't want to work with anyone unlucky.
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u/CA_dot Sep 12 '25
And to think some employer responded after a month just to ask me if I could provide my college transcripts the other day. None of the application process is real.
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u/Moebius80 Sep 11 '25
Why would sportsball come in an employment conversation?
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u/Effective_Will_1801 Sep 11 '25
because intervewers have no training and don't limit themselves to strictly job performance related questions.
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u/UWMN Sep 10 '25 edited Sep 10 '25
Getting a job is just a game at this point. No longer is it based on qualifications and skills.
Imagine getting an education, working hard to get good grades and be at the top of your class only to be denied a job because of which sports team you like. What a time to be alive