In reply to A Longleat Boulderer:
But he didn't punch his brother. He punched another employee.
In employment law terms any action "which brings the company into disrepute", OR, takes place whilst you are not at work but which the employer has in someway been responsible for can result in disciplinary action being taken against you. The fact that an assault took place in the privacy of someones home is irrelevant.
There are some caveats to this of course, but clearly Clarkson hit a fellow employee which is unacceptable in most employment circumstances.
What the employer does about it is of course up to the employer to decide. All the law states on this is whether the employer's response is that which a 'reasonable' employer' would have taken. I cannot recall an assault of one employee against another which did not result in dismissal.
Whether the employee or not 'files charges' or reports the matter is irrelevant. The assault took place whether the employee complained or not.
(This is a separate matter from reporting it to the police and/or any separate legal proceedings).
The fact that he is Jeremy Clarkson makes him no less immune that if he was Jimmy Saville
Post edited at 15:53