MILANESE LOSES DISMISSAL CLAIMS AGAINST ORIENT

Former Sporting Director of Leyton Orient, Mauro Milanese lost his dismissal claim after months of arguing it out in court.

Milanese joined the club in the summer of 2014 as sporting director but was made manger few months later. When the club appointed a new coach in Fabio Liverani, he was reverted to his former role. However, the club sacked him in January 2015 claiming that the former manager breached his contract.

Milanese sued the club for the dismissal. The club presented six grounds for their action but the court after listening to both parties upheld only one. The name of the player was not disclosed but the club and court found fault in the way Milanese handled the transfer of an academy player. The judge claimed the actions of Milanese were a “very serious breach of the implied term of mutual trust and confidence and constituted gross misconduct.”

The club wanted Milanese to repay all of his salary and benefits during his employment but the Judge ruled that the former coach’s performance was not the subject of criticism, so he was entitled to his contractual benefits for the time spent. The benefits were up to £8,300 but he the court ordered him to play £100,000 court costs.

When the full judgement was available online, some of the salaries of the players were revealed. Many analysts wondered how the club dropped from its position in the League One to League Two during the 2014/15 campaign but the case shed more light into how the club spent its resources.

Discrepancies were found in the way Milanese handled players’ welfare when he was in charge. One of which was allowing Shane Lowry leave when his salary was set to be raised. Then the salary of Italian Andrea Dossena was released as well.

The former Liverpool and Sunderland player made just 15 appearances where he scored just a goal but was earning £7,667 per week. The case was a messy one but was finally resolved with Milanese having to pay his £100,000 wrongful dismissal claim to the court.