The Irish Independent's former racing tipster, Capt Keen, is to remain an employee of the newspaper suspended on full pay while a disciplinary inquiry is being determined, the High Court was told yesterday.
John Martin, Glenville Road, Blanchardstown, Dublin, had earlier obtained an injunction against Independent Newspapers (Ireland) Ltd restraining it from altering his "suspended" status.
The injunction was yesterday replaced by an agreement between Martin and the newspaper which undertook to maintain the status quo while the disciplinary inquiry went ahead.
Independent Newspapers also agreed that before any sanction, if any, would be imposed, Martin would be given three weeks' notice to allow him to decide whether to re-enter the motion seeking interlocutory restraint, pending a full trial of High Court proceedings.
Mr Justice John MacMenamin granted the newspaper leave to apply to the court in the event of Martin adopting tactics to delay the disciplinary inquiry.
He was accused of using such tactics during legal interchanges in court yesterday.
Martin (55) claimed he had been the victim of a concerted campaign conducted against him since 2000 by Patrick Courtney, the Independent's group sports editor, and Declan Carlyle, human resources director of Independent Newspapers.
This had been denied in sworn written evidence by the newspaper, which alleged that Martin had changed a medical certificate by overwriting the number of sick days which he was entitled to take.
Martin said he had overwritten the certificate but had done so with his doctor's knowledge and permission, following an alleged mistake in the number of days involved.
Martin alleged that following an internal inquiry, it had been recommended that he be dismissed on the grounds of gross misconduct.
The proceedings have been put in for mention before Mr Justice MacMenamin during the month of October.