Former marketing manager awarded more than £990,000 after winning case against the Jockey Club

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The Jockey Club has been ordered to pay more than £990,000 in damages and lost earnings to former employee Matthew Foxton-Duffy, after being found in breach of its duty of care. 

During six days of evidence and legal argument in the King's Bench division of the High Court in November and December, Foxton-Duffy successfully made the case that he had come under huge psychological stress which stemmed from an increase in his workload which he claimed was the result of an internal restructure at the Jockey Club.  

From the witness box, Foxton-Duffy spoke of his despair in November 2021, recalling an incident in which he deliberately drove his car towards a line of trees, only regaining control of the vehicle at the last moment. 

In a 56-page written judgement, Judge Elizabeth O'Neill found against the Jockey Club's position that it could have no reasonable way of knowing that Foxton-Duffy was suffering psychological injury, one which both sides' medical experts agreed was a case of "complex PTSD" as well as a "moderate depressive episode". 

O'Neill concluded: "Considering the pattern of events, the inference is clear that MFD [Matthew Foxton-Duffy] was 'tipped over the edge' following his failed attempts to raise his welfare concerns with his employers, and specifically, by their failure to acknowledge his risk of injury by undertaking a risk assessment or an occupational health assessment, to measure and avert the risk to his health."

The judge added that those "failures" to take action during the second half of 2021 "materially contributed" to Foxton-Duffy's injury. 

In a statement, the Jockey Club said it was "disappointed" in the judgement, but would not appeal "to allow those affected and involved in the case to move on". 

Foxton-Duffy was already marketing manager for the Jockey Club's south-western region, including Cheltenham, when the racecourse group amalgamated it with the north-west courses of Aintree, Haydock and Carlisle. 

Described by his former employer in its own pre-hearing submission as "head and shoulders" above his marketing peers at the Jockey Club, Foxton-Duffy's legal team drew a picture of a highly motivated and diligent individual who came under increasing strain from April 2021 onwards, owing to the increased workload associated with the newly formed Western region. 

Simon Claisse: former Cheltenham clerk of the course and the JCR's south-west regional director of racingCredit: Edward Whitaker (racingpost.com/photos)

Former regional head of racing Simon Claisse said of the demands of Foxton-Duffy's role in the old south-west region that "in terms of the scale of the job, it doesn’t really get much more high-pressured".

Claisse added: "My observations of the claimant in that environment, was that he handled the stress and the pressure of the role really well and he did a good job.”

The number of people working across all marketing roles in the west was reduced from 21 to seven, with many of the former regional functions diverted to a new central marketing team.

When appearing as a witness for the claimant, Claisse said: "My observations were that the expectations on what the marketing team in particular were asked to achieve were entirely unrealistic given the lack of resources available to them, compared to the resources they used to have available." 

Claisse said he observed "very clear signs" that Foxton-Duffy "wasn't coping with the amount of work being thrust upon him", citing episodes when he was reduced to tears. 

Another witness called by Foxton-Duffy's team, West Region operations manager Rebecca Elvin, said: "I recalled probably from mid-2021 onwards, that the claimant became much more withdrawn. 

"He had also started to get a bit hot under the collar about stuff too and would get a bit emotional and lose his clarity of thought, I could visibly see him getting himself wound into a tighter and tighter coil [. . . ] until he became quite snappy and visibly stressed.” 

The Jockey Club's defence argued that Foxton-Duffy failed to bring his stress to the attention of senior management, and that a series of conversations and meetings throughout 2021 were focused on specific incidents between him and colleagues. But the judge rejected the defence's version of events at meetings with chief marketing officer Olaf Gueldner and Ian Renton, managing director of the west region.

The Jockey Club will not contest a finding it failed in its duty of care to Matthew Foxton-Duffy

In particular she found evidence of meetings and emails "contrary to Olaf Gueldner's recollection," instead showing that as early as April 2021, Foxton-Duffy and the east region's director of marketing, Michelle Anderson, had "expressly raised the risk of injury through stress to all members of the marketing team, including themselves".

The court awarded Foxton-Duffy £72,500 in general damages along with £211,920.87 plus interest for loss of earnings since his departure from the Jockey Club in April 2022, and £684,796 to compensate for future losses.

Both sides agreed that Foxton-Duffy continues to suffer psychological damage, while the claimant's medical expert witness put the risk of relapse as between 20 and 40 per cent. 

A spokesperson for he Jockey Club said: "While we were saddened to learn of the health issues Mr Foxton-Duffy has encountered since leaving us in 2022, we are disappointed by this judgement. 

“However, in the interests of all concerned we will not appeal against the court’s decision in order to allow those affected and involved in the case to move on.”

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Stress-related illness case starts in court with dispute over witness and memories of tears during Jockey Club meetings 

Jockey Club and former employee set for court case next week 

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