Stress At Work In Sport: The Psychological Impact Of Public Scrutiny By Bosses
A few years back, I pursued a claim on behalf of a lovely lady who was on the receiving end of the most consistent bullying I have seen.
Her male-dominated employer had allowed the bullying to go unchecked to such an extent that she was openly taunted about her looks in the office daily. It was no surprise that after a period of trying to internalise the bullying, she suffered from a pretty significant mental illness.
It is unfortunate that employees up and down the country suffer psychological injury due to how they are treated at work.
But what about the world of sport?
Personal Injury: Stress At Work
Elite sportsmen and women dedicate their life to being the best they can be and no one for a second believes that they are not pushed to their personal limits to achieve their success.
In 2020, the Olympic Gymnast Amy Tinkler made serious allegations against her coaches for bullying and fat shaming.
She alleged that she had been called ‘fat’ by one coach and celebrated for looking better after coming out of hospital after having food poisoning by another. Amy pointed to years of being on the sharp end of abusive comments and practices where comments about her weight were normalised. She retired at the age of 19 after winning a bronze medal at the Rio Olympic Games.
Public Criticism
And what about overtly public criticism in sport?
Not every football player has the benefit of a warm public hug from a beaming Jurgen Klopp.
A few years ago Jose Mourinho took public criticism to seemingly new levels in his relationship with Luke Shaw. Here is a snippet of what was reported at the time:
“There is a difference between the brave, who want to be there at any cost, and the ones for who a little pain can make a difference”.
“It’s difficult for him to be on the bench because I cannot compare him with Ashley Young, with Darmian, with Blind. I cannot compare the way he trains, the way he commits, the focus, the ambition. He is a long way behind”.
“He had a good performance but it was his body with my brain. He was in front of me and I was making every decision for him. I was thinking for him, when to close inside, when to open, when to press the opponent, I was making every decision for him”.
Then in an FA cup match against Brighton, Shaw was substituted at halftime after Mourinho was unhappy with his fullbacks:
“I had to change one and I chose Luke because at least Antonio defensively was capable of good positioning. Luke, in the first half, every time they came in his corridor, the cross came in and a dangerous situation was coming. I was not happy with his performance”.
So, where does tactical motivation meet bullying in the public sphere of elite sport? Where does healthy competition to maximise elite performance become just old-fashioned harassment? Is elite sport simply a vacuum where the normal rules of employer and employee don’t exist and does the price of success mean that sports people must accept whatever comes their way?
Personal Injury: Stress At Work
If you take away the thrust of the sporting context, it is usually thought to be unacceptable to publicly criticise employees for their attitude or competency at doing the job.
Imagine if your employer on their website questioned your attitude at work or said that you were not up to the job. Any capability issues usually should be managed internally through properly thought out policies.
Whilst Mourinho was not the employer of Luke Shaw, he was in a position of authority within the employer’s business.
Certainly, the court of public opinion thought the allegations of mistreatment within the sport of gymnastics were unacceptable, and Sport England and UK Sport commissioned an independent investigation following allegations of mistreatment within the sport of gymnastics.
The Whyte Review, written by Anne Whyte QC, was released in June. For anyone with children within the sport like me, it makes for very uncomfortable reading in places. This is typical:
I received over 400 submissions in response to my Call for Evidence in August 2020. Over 40% of submissions received by the Review described physically abusive behaviour towards gymnasts, primarily during training. This behaviour included physical chastisement, inappropriate training on injury, the enforcement of excessive training hours and training loads leading to physical pain and exhaustion beyond acceptable limits, overstretching to the point of distress as a form of flexibility management and withholding food, water and access to the toilet during training sessions. There was a strong correlation between statements about the withholding of food, water and access to the toilet and those individuals who reported long term negative consequences because of their gymnastics experiences. Physical punishments were also reported to have been imposed in response to perceived transgressions. I was told about gymnasts being physically manhandled, usually in circumstances when coaches were frustrated by what they deemed to be a lack of effort or achievement. These behaviours were often reported to have happened in front of other gymnasts and coaches.
The report concluded that between 2008 and 2020, there was a failure to put the welfare of participants at the centre of gymnastics, particularly elite gymnastics, and a culture that meant the gymnastics community felt unable to raise their concerns.
Sport v The Office
So should sport be any different to other employers, and indeed is it?
Of course, most of the time, we only get snapshots in the press and don’t know all of what goes on behind closed doors. However, what would be the position if a sportsman or woman was to suffer a mental injury similar to that of my former client?
Let us hope that has not been the case with Luke Shaw, but what about those in the world of Gymnastics? Sophie Jameson, a three-time British Champion, has been open about the fact that she now suffers with anxiety and has developed an eating disorder as a result of her treatment. In a world where one in four people in the UK will experience a mental health problem in any given year, is it clearly foreseeable that this could happen. Sport does not exist outside social norms when it comes to mental illness.
Stress At Work Claims
The law in this area is complex, and there is a high bar.
Any Claimant must be able to show that their psychiatric injury was foreseeable by the employer.
That is to say that the employer knew or ought to have known about the excessive pressures on the individual employee at the time and that the pressure could lead to injury.
Once the employer becomes aware that the employee is having difficulties, it is incumbent on them to see what they can do to resolve it. Claimants must also prove what steps or measures the employer could and should have taken to prevent harm.
In certain circumstances, this might be as little as offering them a confidential advice service.
Finally, it is still necessary for the Claimant to prove that any alleged breach of duty actually caused the harm. This is usually done by reference to an expert in the field of Psychiatry.
A Claimant can also seek to make a claim for harassment under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 on the right facts. Under this provision the conduct must be targeted at the Claimant and be intended to cause distress; it must be in the words of the House of Lords, conduct that is “oppressive and unacceptable” as opposed to merely unattractive, unreasonable or regrettable. The conduct must be of sufficient severity that it could attract the sanction of the criminal law.
Mourinho is now a footnote in Manchester United’s history, and Luke Shaw battled back to regain the left-back spot, culminating in him scoring in the Euro 2020 final. However, it would be surprising if the richest football club in the world is not alive to the risks that might arise from such public criticism of a player by a manager.
With regards to the treatment countless gymnasts have been forced to endure, there seems to be a strong case. Understandably there are multiple cases ongoing and it will be interesting to see how these proceed, especially in light of the unsuccessful claim made by Jess Varnish against British Cycling.
Personal Injury: Stress At Work Claims
If you feel that you have suffered a psychological reaction as a result of the work practices of your employer, then please do contact Tim on 01903 229999 who will be able to advise if you have a claim.