Shoosmiths lawyer deemed offensive
Shoosmiths head of social housing Andy Ballard has fallen foul of the ‘strict code of political correctness’ after he said he wanted to recruit younger Guardian readers to his team.
Andy Ballard
In an interview with The Lawyer last week (19 October) about the launch of two new social housing teams in Milton Keynes and The Solent, he joked: ”Anyone who’s under 50 and reads The Guardian gets brought on.”
However, not everyone appreciated Ballard’s irreverent style, with The Lawyer subsequently receiving an anonymous phone call from a reader claiming to be from a housing association that instructed Shoosmiths.
The caller said that “board members took issue with regard to age discrimination”, adding that the comments were “flippant and stereotyping of the social housing sector”.
He went on to liken the comments to those made by businessman Gerald Ratner, who was considered to have made a faux pas after describing the jewellery he sold as “crap” in the early 1990s.
Since joining Shoosmiths from Cobbetts in March last year Ballard and his team have added 20 per cent to the Birmingham office’s bottom line. He has acted on six Welsh joint stock transfers and for most of the Midlands’ registered social landlords. It is on the back of that success that the two new teams are to be launched.
Ballard was unavailable for further comment.
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Readers' comments (35)
Anonymous | 30-Oct-2009 3:08 pm
What is "political correctness"? How can you have too much correctness?
Andy Ballard has been caught out for making an unlawful comment. His statement whether a joke or not was dicriminative. There can be no excuse for such a statement as there wouldn't be for a racist or sexist joke.
I for one have been disappointed that there has been no apology from Andy or Shoosmiths.
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investment baker | 3-Nov-2009 11:55 am
stop being so sensitive and lighten up. there are worse things to get your knickers in a knot about!
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KRUSTY THE KLOWN | 3-Nov-2009 12:00 pm
Was it not Abraham Lincoln, a lawyer and the undisputed champion of liberty and justice for all, who said:
"If you look hard enough you can find the evil in anything" and also
"If you look for the good in man as hard as you look for the evil you will surely find a better harvest"
Cluck your tongues benignly, wag your fingers a little maybe but for pity's sake let it lie!
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Anonymous | 11-Nov-2009 9:07 am
Well done Andy. You are a damn fine lawyer with a cracking good team.
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Anonymous | 6-Jan-2011 0:30 am
I find it hard to believe that anyone would be offended by this obvious banter. Cracking good excuse to have a go at Shoosmiths though. Why are we all so jealous of them?
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