Steward withdraws Dennis racism claim

Eurosport - Wed, 14 Jan 13:54:00 2009

A former air steward apologised to Ron Dennis at an employment tribunal after withdrawing accusations of racism and homophobia against the McLaren boss.

FORMULA 1 Ron Dennis - 0

Dennis was accused by Peter Boland, who worked on his private jet between 2002 and 2007, of saying he needed to wash his hands "because I've been shaking hands with Arabs all day".

Boland, 27, sued Dennis, McLaren and two other companies linked to him for £100,000 over unfair dismissal and victimization.

Boland said that Dennis had also circulated rumours he was homosexual, which he denied.

"I unreservedly apologise to Mr Dennis and all respondents, and to the Southampton Employment Tribunal, for wasting their time with what I now realise were unfounded allegations," Boland said in a statement.

Dennis stated: "This case has been hurtful, irritating and unnecessary, in the sense that no impropriety ever took place, which fact Mr Boland now concedes.

"Equally, Mr Boland accepts that I have never said or done anything either racist or homophobic."

Briton Lewis Hamilton, Formula One's first black driver, won the World Championship with Mercedes-powered McLaren last year.

Dennis and his Saudi business partner Mansour Ojjeh each own 15 per cent of McLaren, while Bahrain's Mumtalakat holding company have a 30 per cent stake.

Reuters

Comment 24 - 43 of 63

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  1. ... and I imagine you mean inbred not interbred.­ That's the way geniuses like you insult those they­ consider to be socially and intellectually inferior.

    From Count Louis Zborowski, on Wed 14 Jan 5:26PM
  2. m.e.jenner
    re 42. It is fun though!

    From Count Louis Zborowski, on Wed 14 Jan 5:09PM
  3. As if we didn't know that johnny and totally­ transvestite is in fact the same­ "contributor". It's the pink knickers­ that give you away you sweet talking little darling.

    From Count Louis Zborowski, on Wed 14 Jan 5:07PM
  4. 'Pedro de la Rosa budapest 2006' is one of the­ clips, He gets away with it once without penalty so he­ does it again. With driving like this you wonder why­ PDLR can't get a proper drive.

    From Mike, on Wed 14 Jan 5:06PM
  5. Hell Y, Schumy DID do it, to Pedro De La Rosa a couple­ of years ago, look it up on Youtube, its outrageous.

    From Mike, on Wed 14 Jan 4:43PM
  6. Ron Dennis is a great man.

    From l, on Wed 14 Jan 4:23PM
  7. Lewis gave the place back after being forced onto the­ escape road and so gained nothing. Just cant believe­ how much the bosses of F1 hate McLaren. If that had­ been Schue who did what Lewis had done, they wouldnt­ have taken the place away from him, just like Ferrari­ didnt get a penalty for a dangerous exit from the pit­ box! Makes me feel like boycotting the F1

    From l, on Wed 14 Jan 4:22PM
  8. 'Furious Lewis Hamilton was sensationally stripped­ of his thrilling Belgian Grand Prix victory last night.­

    'Hamilton received a 25-second penalty for­ cutting a corner in an amazing duel with world champion­ Kimi Raikkonen.

    'The British driver's­ McLaren team are trying to appeal the decision to rob­ Hamilton of a stunning victory after the FIA found him­ guilty of taking a short cut.

    'Hamilton claimed­ it was "absolutely wrong" to hand him a­ retrospective 25-second penalty which demonted him to­ third place and gave the win to Felipe Massa

    From l, on Wed 14 Jan 4:21PM
  9. I'm trying to write a masterpiece for my­ 'Writing for Fun' class on Friday morning - and­ failing miserably. No good trawling through some of­ these posts for inspiration sadly !!

    From m.e.jenner, on Wed 14 Jan 4:20PM
  10. No one believe Ron Dennis is a racist.

    From l, on Wed 14 Jan 4:20PM
  11. The decision to demote Lewis Hamilton to third place­ here yesterday will long be remembered as being­ farcical and disgraceful by all in motor racing. Lewis­ Hamilton had scored a sensational victory at­ Spa-Francorchamps - snatching victory from the jaws of­ defeat just when it seemed that Kimi Raikkonen was on­ course to emulate the great Jim Clark's feat of­ four victories in a row here after dominating the race.­ Then the race stewards adjudged Hamilton to have gained­ advantage by cutting a chicane and gave him a­ ridiculous retrospective 25-second penalty, which­ dropped him to third and rendered the race a joke

    From l, on Wed 14 Jan 4:17PM
  12. Good afternoon Mrs J, how are you today?

    From Grey Scale, on Wed 14 Jan 3:53PM
  13. Reeks of jealousy voodoo.

    From m.e.jenner, on Wed 14 Jan 3:36PM
  14. Absolutely totallytv, your contributions to discussions­ are so much better.

    "Robbo,you pathetic­ limpdick,you take it where the son dont shine year in­ and year out at almost every sport.
    (foreign managers­ and players) then yo are so useless and limpdicked­ asgain you have to nosh a sourf efrican and an arrogant­ aussie twatt tio save your jellyfish hide, now the­ smell complains about itself.
    From totallytv, on Fri 9­ Jan 3:12PM"

    From Grey Scale, on Wed 14 Jan 3:27PM
  15. And you're not, I suppose?

    From owen gayer, on Wed 14 Jan 2:25PM
  16. good old favourite Ron Dennis is tops

    such a wonderful­ business character

    From Lucie D, on Wed 14 Jan 11:34AM
  17. bravo --- well done RON
    Congratulations for your ­ honesty

    From zina222, on Wed 14 Jan 11:21AM
  18. In response to post 25 from Bernard. Glock was not on­ the wet line on the track in the last corner, you can­ clearly see on the video on youtube, (thats right its­ there) that glock is on the drier line and indeed­ Vettell and Hamilton have to drive off line in order to­ go past the toyota.

    Hamilton is the man he deserves­ the champioship, end of story, get over it. The fact­ that your a Schumacher fan makes it even funnier, he­ was the dirtiest racer of them all (and the probably­ best I admit) which is probably why he won so much.­ Remember how he took out Damon Hill and himself in­ order to win a championship in 95, and even tried to do­ the same thing to Villneuve in 97 and when he parked it­ Monaca a few years back.

    Why exactly is this year a­ phoney crown anyway?

    From rsjwheadon, on Wed 14 Jan 10:34AM
  19. christ almighty why are some of you still bleating on­ about last year..............its­ gone...finished.....end of....records say hamilton­ world champion 2008......get over it.....for f**ks sake

    From martyn, on Wed 14 Jan 8:56AM
  20. hey, mclaren open to supplying honda with engines, i­ like it!

    From napierrailton, on Wed 14 Jan 5:28AM
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