A former Bradford Bulls employee sacked for posts he made on Twitter has accused club owner Omar Khan of ‘hypocrisy’ and ‘double standards’ after he used the social networking site to brand a former player a ‘traitor’.

Chris Gawthrop, 50, who lost his job for posting a picture of the lettering ‘WE 8 RHINOS’ on a supporter’s away shirt in March, spoke out after Mr Khan made the remark about former Bulls prop Craig Kopczak on Twitter on Saturday night.

The restaurant boss came under fire after responding to a tweet suggesting Kopczak, formerly of Eccleshill, ‘made the right move’ when he left his hometown club for Huddersfield last season, saying: “No Kopczak was a traitor #bulls are going to rule #bullsyear2013.”

His comment has since sparked a backlash from some fans, who have accused him of being ‘unprofessional’ and ‘out of order’.

Mr Khan last night refused to comment about the tweet, which has been retweeted 24 times and has not been deleted. His co-chairman, former Sports Minister Gerry Sutcliffe, said he was “unaware of it.”

But former retail manager Mr Gawthrop, of Guiseley, accused Mr Khan of ‘hypocrisy’ and said he had been treated ‘harshly’.

“It would appear somewhat hypocritical in my view to sanction a misdemeanour of this type by an employee with dismissal yet carry out an equally, if not more severe misappropriation as chairman of the club,” he said.

“Can I be the only person to see this as double standards? Am I alone in thinking that it is wrong for a chairman to be sacking a person for an action and then re-enacting it toward a previous employee? I was upset by my demise, I enjoyed my role and it seemed that the Bulls fans largely agreed that I had performed in a satisfactory fashion.

“I was flattered by the support I received from fans when I left, I didn’t take any action against the Bulls despite fans advising that I should. I left, disappointed but without taking any rebuke. It seems that employees, past employees and volunteers at the Bulls are treated with scant regard at Odsal.”

He added: I have no animosity toward the club, the players, the fans or my now ex-colleagues.

“In fact I would return to the role in a heartbeat, such was my enjoyment.”

Kopczak stunned Bulls fans and team-mates when he terminated his contract with the club shortly before the final-round match away to Catalan Dragons last September.

It was believed he had been offered a deal with Huddersfield Giants, who he later joined on a three-year contract after a financial settlement between the clubs was agreed.

After the trauma of last year’s cash crisis at Bradford, Kopczak’s decision to join the Giants was seen as safeguarding his future.

He was unavailable for comment about Mr Khan’s comment on Twitter last night.

The Bulls’ boss’s tweet has since been discussed on rugby league internet forums and prompted a number of replies on Twitter.

Richard Hicks replied: “What a stupid thing to say from a company chairman that is very unprofessional!” Heather added: “How unprofessional especially after how the RL family dug deep to make sure they still had a club!”

Vinny Brown said: “What a shocking thing to come out and say. #jokeofaclub.”

e-mail: hannah.postles @telegraphandargus.co.uk