An employment judge has finally slapped down a ‘professional claimant’ exposed by the Daily Mail.
In February the Mail reported that Christian Mallon was applying for 2,000 jobs a year, many of which he was totally unqualified for, then claiming compensation saying his ADHD and autism had been ‘ignored’.
He even cried discrimination after being rejected for the job of top civil servant in the Northern Ireland agriculture ministry, with a budget of £335million and 900 staff, despite having no relevant qualifications or experience.
Now an employment tribunal has taken the unusual step of ordering him to pay £20,000 in costs for his ‘vexatious’ claims.
Judge Robin Postle noted that one of the 50 job applications involved in the latest case – all made through the Vector Recruitment Ltd agency – ‘made clear’ a requirement for a medical degree and background, which Mr Mallon, 49, ‘plainly did not have’.
In February the Mail reported that Christian Mallon (pictured in February) was applying for 2,000 jobs a year, many of which he was totally unqualified for, then claiming compensation saying his ADHD and autism had been ‘ignored’
Mr Mallon (pictured in January) even cried discrimination after being rejected for the job of top civil servant in the Northern Ireland agriculture ministry, with a budget of £335million and 900 staff, despite having no relevant qualifications or experience
The tribunal heard that ‘career victim’ Mr Mallon, who lives with his partner in a £300,000 house in Cannock, Staffordshire, generally submitted a CV for his applications
The tribunal heard that ‘career victim’ Mr Mallon, who lives with his partner in a £300,000 house in Cannock, Staffordshire, generally submitted a CV for his applications. When he was rejected on the basis of that CV, he claimed he was discriminated against when his requests for an oral interview were refused.
He said his conditions, which also include dyspraxia, meant he came across poorly in writing, so under disability discrimination law he should have been able to make oral applications.
Yet the tribunal found he failed to show there was anything relevant he could have said in person that was not in his CV, and since he was ‘fundamentally mismatched’ for most of the jobs ‘oral applications would simply make no difference’.
Judge Postle said there was no law against imposing a costs order against ‘a disabled party’, and tribunals were entitled to note when a claimant had been ‘unreasonable’. He told the hearing in Norwich that Vector incurred legal costs of £50,000, adding: ‘There was simply no evidence of discrimination.’
Mr Mallon, who also has properties in Belfast and Scotland and has amassed £35,000 in payouts, declined to comment.