Frederic Kanoute, West Ham's French striker, was shown the red card for aiming a blow at Leeds' match-winner Seth Johnson as Leeds grabbed their first Premiership win since New Year's Day.
Kanoute received his marching orders 20 minutes from the end of a game Lee Bowyer will want to forget.
Bowyer knew he was in for a torrid afternoon as soon as he stepped off the West Ham team coach to a chant of "scum" from several hundred Leeds fans.
Elland Road's prodigal son returned a month after his controversial sale to his boyhood heroes, and was roundly booed every time he touched the ball.
Whether he was subdued by the occasion or affected by the ankle injury that has been bothering him for some time, Bowyer played a bit-part role on his return to West Yorkshire and was booked for dissent ten minutes into the second half.
His best contribution came early in the second half with a fine cross-field pass to Paolo Di Canio who teed the ball up for Joe Cole to smack a 20-yard shot which brought the save of the match from Paul Robinson.
Ironically, it was Johnson who netted the game's only goal with the kind of strike that made Bowyer an Elland Road hero before his fall from grace.
With 20 minutes gone, Gary Kelly rolled the ball into Johnson's path and from just outside the penalty area the former Derby man sent a left foot shot into the bottom right corner.
David James got a despairing hand to the ball but couldn't prevent Johnson's first Leeds goal on his first Premiership start of the season.
Johnson should have had a second from one of Gary Kelly's many accurately delivered crosses, but he lifted the ball over David James' bar.
Leeds victory was earned at a price, Dominic Matteo and Eirik Bakke picking up late injuries.