A recent Employment Tribunal decision from across the pond sheds light on what could constitute lawful discrimination in the workplace.
Scott A. Small
Managing Partner
In today’s workplace, personal interests often spark friendly banter among employees. One of the most common points of conversation is sports—whether it’s football, basketball, baseball, soccer or hockey. But what happens if an employee’s loyalty to a rival team causes tension, or if an employer simply doesn’t want to employ someone who cheers for “the wrong side”? The question arises: is it lawful for an employer to discriminate against an employee based on which sports team they support?
An Employment Tribunal Judge from South London, England says yes…kind of. In July of 2025, Employment Tribunal Judge Danial Wright of South London proclaimed that an applicant for employment may be turned away by her prospective employer on the basis of “vibes.” After the Claimant requested Judge Wright reconsider his decision in September of this year, he refused, making his original decision the operative order.
In his original reasoning, Judge Wright found that the company, Digitas LBI Limited, denied the Claimant a job after the interviewer “vibed” better with another applicant. While in some situations, “vibes” can be code-word for unlawful discrimination, in this case it was not. In affirming his point, Judge Wright analogized the failure-to-hire to another vibe-ridden relationship; the sporting rivalry. “There may be times” states Judge Wright, “when it is perfectly lawful for an employer to decide that somebody just will not be a fit with the team and that therefore it would be difficult to work together. An example of this could be a small company where everybody who works in the office is an ardent support of Arsenal Football Club, and they decide to pick an Arsenal fan at interview over a similarly qualified Tottenham Hotspur season ticket holder because they do not want to damage the harmony of the office.”
To put this quote into Americanized terms, replace “Arsenal Football Club” with “Green Bay Packers” and “Tottenham Hotspur” with “Chicago Bears.” (Or any two teams that have a rivaled history).
Similar to the English anti-discrimination laws, under American federal law, discrimination based on protected characteristics such as race, sex, religion, national origin, age, and disability is strictly prohibited. Sports team loyalty, however, is not a protected class. This means that, in general, an employer is not violating federal law by choosing to hire—or not hire—someone based on their support for a certain team.
Employers, of course, still need to be careful. If sports fandom overlaps with a protected characteristic, the situation changes. For example, if a particular ethnic or religious group is associated with a team or player, an employer’s actions could unintentionally veer into prohibited discrimination. This can be especially poignant when the support is for a National sports team (i.e. Mexican Soccer Team or Russian Hockey Team). If the refusal to hire seems to be more about the national origin of the applicant, rather than the team loyalty itself, the refusal could certainly be considered unlawfully discriminatory.
So can you refuse to hire an otherwise qualified candidate because they are a Bears fan? Most likely yes.
But really—don’t they have it bad enough already?
If you have been turned away from a job because of a protected characteristic like race, religion, national origin, disability, sex, or gender, contact us today to set up a worry-free consultation!