Goldberg Segalla announces partner's firing on YouTube after he insulted Liverpool fans on camera
A well-known corporate insurance partner in the London office of a U.S. law firm has been publicly fired on YouTube, due to his use of insulting language in front of a video camera after a British soccer match last month.
Although Clive O’Connell later apologized for what he said in an interview with a fan website outside the Chelsea stadium, Goldberg Segalla managing partner Rick Cohen said in a YouTube announcement Sunday by the law firm that “O’Connell’s partnership is terminated, effective immediately.
YouTube
During his interview with Neeks Sports, which is also on YouTube, O’Connell, an apparent supporter of the losing Chelsea team, referred to fans of the victorious Liverpool team as “those scum Scouse idiots, those nasty horrible people.”
YouTube
O’Connell has also been accused of posting offensive comments online, reports the Belfast Telegraph, although it is not clear from news reports that he definitely did so.
“I personally recruit every lawyer in every office of this firm’s footprint,” said Cohen in the YouTube announcement of O’Connell’s firing. “I tell each of them that this firm is special because the people who join Goldberg Segalla not only need to be excellent at whatever it is they do but they must be better human beings than they are lawyers.
“Our core values require that anyone affiliated with this firm demonstrate respect for the clients, the courts, our colleagues and our communities,” Cohen continues. “Respect, tolerance, kindness diversity, charity, they aren’t mere words or amorphous concepts to us; we’re true to those values.
“Clive O’Connell’s comments are entirely inconsistent with our ethos. His words are offensive, plain and simple. His conduct doesn’t rise to the standards to which we hold ourselves. And for these reasons we have terminated our partnership with Mr. O’Connell, effective immediately.
“We’re extremely proud of the respectful and giving culture that we’ve worked hard to build, and we’re committed to maintaining it, for ourselves, for our clients and for the communities of which we are a part.”
Contacted Monday by the Evening Standard, O’Connell declined to comment, telling the newspaper “I’m not permitted to speak to you, please refer to Goldberg Segalla.”
Related coverage:
Law Society Gazette (opinion): “Trial by social media”
Liverpool Echo: “Clive O’Connell poll: was law firm right to sack Chelsea fan who branded Liverpool supporters Scouse scum?”
