The woman at the centre of allegations made against Christian Horner will reportedly take her case to an employment tribunal if an appeal against the dismissal of her grievance is unsuccessful. In February, Red Bull’s parent company cleared the Formula One team principal of inappropriate behaviour following an investigation overseen by an independent lawyer.

Horner, who has always denied the allegations made against him, has continued in his job. The woman appealed against the decision and has reportedly been suspended by Red Bull.

No details of the investigation have ever been made public. The nature of the complaint, the identity of the lawyer and the detailed findings have not been released. Red Bull GmbH, the parent company, say this is due to confidentiality reasons.

However, if the woman were to take her case to an employment tribunal, those details could be released into the public domain. Horner himself has said that he wants a line drawn under the matter.

Legal industry insiders who spoke to the Guardian said that an employment tribunal is the next natural course of action.

“It’s like a roadmap, these are the stops along the way,” Tania Goodman, the head of ­employment and a partner at the law firm ­Collyer ­Bristow, told the newspaper.

“If an employee has a complaint or grievance, they raise it internally, perhaps informally at first but if it’s not resolved then it becomes formal and is investigated and ­considered, usually as part of a grievance hearing after which an outcome is given.

“If the employee is not happy with the decision, then they can appeal internally and at the end of that process if they’re still not satisfied they can go to an employment tribunal.”

Messages purporting to involve Horner were leaked the day after Red Bull GmbH revealed that the 50-year-old had been cleared of wrongdoing. The veracity of the exchanges, which were sent to F1 personnel and media, have never been confirmed.

“In those circumstances [going to an employment tribunal] the ­confidentiality that attaches to internal procedures would no longer apply,” added Goodman. “A final hearing is open to the public ­during which information about the case is ­available ­including the nature of the complaints, ­witness ­evidence, ­submissions, the ­tribunal’s conclusions, and a written judgement.”

Horner, who has been Red Bull’s team principal since the team’s inaugural season in 2005, has continued in his job. Max Verstappen won the opening two Grands Prix, in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, but did not finish last weekend’s race in Australia.

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