TRP

[Heathen]

Are Wasps still interested in signing Stooke after this episode?

[baldpaul101]

Are Wasps still interested in signing Stooke after this episode?

I am not entirely sure that it would, or indeed should, make any difference.
Wasps, and every other club, have signed players with such incidents in their back ground. They are signed because of what they can do on the pitch. However that said, should a players conduct off the pitch impact on his role on it, as an ambassador of the club & the game etc?

Don't know the answer, but I guess we'll find out in the next few months

[MarleyWasp]

Even though he's been a complete idiot, I don't see why we wouldn't go ahead with his signing.

Stooke has faced significant penalty:
3 match ban
14 month driving ban
Fines of £2,562.

He faces damage to his reputation, potentially misses out on a final pay day abroad (Cipriani had to turn down a big money deal in Japan due to his drink driving conviction) and higher insurance premiums when he gets his license back.

If he has already signed a deal with us, I'm not sure we could cancel his contract without having to pay him compensation, as he wasn't a Wasps employee at the time of the offence, but one of our employees was with him for part of the car journey and may well have been a contributing factor in him breaking the law. Most likely we'd incur significant legal fees and possibly paying out the full amount of his contract if he can't find another club.

We've also employed Joe Carlisle after he was banned for 20 months having been caught more over the limit than Stooke was on his way to training and, most famously, Cipriani, who hardly put up a credible defence.

Most crucially, if we cancel the deal, who do we bring in to replace him at this late stage?

[DGP Wasp]

I see in the report that Bath issued a first written warning to Stooke.  I wonder if something can be added into his contract to allow this to be carried over when he moves so that he remains on a warning regarding future conduct.  Not sure of the legalities from an employment contract point of view as I'm pretty sure if I moved from an employer where I had some sort of disciplinary warning hanging over me then I'd be grateful for the clean slate, as my new employers would be unlikely ever to find out.  Bit different when you are in the public eye and your misdemeanors have made the national press.

[Bloke in North Dorset]

I'm wondering about the legality of publicising a written warning, aren't there privacy issues?

I'm also fairly sure you aren't allowed to refer to them on any reference you're asked for, but as I've been retired a few years that may not be right.