‘Inappropriate’ WhatsApps too
A male barrister who worked in the legal department of a police force has been disbarred over his conduct towards junior female colleagues.
The Bar Standards Board (BSB) said Michael Griffiths, who was head of the Legal Services Department at Gloucestershire Police at the time, had behaved in a way that was likely to diminish the trust and confidence the public places in him and the profession.
Griffiths made inappropriate comments of a “sexual nature” in the presence of junior female colleagues at a work-related conference, according to the regulator.
A tribunal also heard that the barrister, who was called to the bar in 1993, exchanged an excessive number of WhatsApp messages with a junior female colleague, some of which were inappropriate and included “disclosures of an intimate and sexual nature”.
A BSB spokesperson said:
“We are committed to ensuring that such behaviour is not tolerated at the bar and take all reports of such conduct seriously. Mr Griffiths actions were a clear example of this type of conduct and incompatible with membership of the bar, and this is reflected in the decision of the tribunal to disbar Mr Griffiths.”
The tribunal’s findings remain subject to appeal.
The problem with these stories is that they never disclose enough detail to allow us to make up our own mind as to whether or not the sanction is merited.
For example, sending sexual comments to a work colleague absolutely could constitute harassment/inappropriate conduct if said colleague has only engaged with you professionally and has given no indication that they desire such interaction.
Alternatively, this could have been consensual flirting between two competent adults, and this decision could represent an unwarranted overreach against perceived ‘bad moral conduct’ just as in the case of Ryan Beckwith.
Which is it? I have no idea.