Peter Waddell launches unfair dismissal action against Big Motoring World over claims of “disability discrimination”

Big Motoring World founder Peter Waddell has formally filed a wrongful dismissal claim, following his controversial ouster from the company earlier this year.

Legal documents, seen by Car Dealer, reveal Waddell alleges wrongful termination, harassment and disability discrimination by Bluebell Cars – the ultimate holding company of Big Motoring World.

The matter must now be resolved by an employment tribunal, as the legal saga around Waddell’s departure continues to rumble on.

This summer again, the High Court denied 58-year-old man a temporary restraining order which would have given him back the right to vote in the company.

In that case, it was revealed that Waddell was fired following allegations of misconduct by staff members.

The court heard an independent investigation upheld several complaints against Waddell, including one accusing him of using “racist language”.

The investigation also revealed “findings of bullying behavior” toward employees, but Waddell continues to maintain his innocence.

In the latest documents, the founder claims the investigation, led by Nicholas Siddall KC, was “flawed” and its timetable was “unreasonably short, unfair and discriminatory”.

He added that he had not been given the opportunity to respond to the allegations and that the decision to remove him was “predetermined.”

As a result of these allegations, Waddell suffered from stress and anxiety and was deemed medically unfit to work at the time of the investigation.

His legal team also claims he was discriminated against because of his dyslexia and partial deafness.

The documents state: “It was clear from the Claimant’s (Waddell) adjustment note that the Claimant was suffering from stress and anxiety caused by the Respondents’ actions.

“Unspecified and unsubstantiated allegations had been made against the claimant for almost four weeks and the first defendant (Bluebell Cars Bidco Ltd) had ignored reasonable requests for information and evidence supporting the allegations and requests for reasonable adjustments , which would have given the applicant the opportunity to inform and contribute to the investigation at an early stage.

“Rather than providing support to the plaintiff during this turbulent time, the first defendant bombarded the plaintiff with voluminous documentation and a long list of allegations increasing the negative impact on his health.

“It was imperative that the claimant was given an opportunity to respond to all the evidence and given an appropriate amount of time to do so, taking into account his mental state, his dyslexia, the nature and extent of the allegations made and potential consequences.

“The first respondent failed to respond to the applicant’s requests for additional time to enable him to properly prepare for the investigation meeting and, as such, the applicant was not given the opportunity to respond to any of the allegations before Mr Siddall completed his investigation.

“The committee that appointed Mr. Siddall imposed an ‘independent investigation’ on an unreasonably short, unfair and discriminatory timetable.”

“The disciplinary process was a foregone conclusion”

Laying out Waddell’s case for unfair dismissal, the papers claim that the “investigation and disciplinary process was a foregone conclusion” and that Siddall “failed to interview all key witnesses”.

They add that administrators wanted to replace Waddell with someone who was “not disabled but more corporate.”

One passage says: “The investigation and disciplinary process were a foregone conclusion.

“Evidence obtained by the Claimant in the course of the investigation and the results of a data subject access request demonstrate that Freshstream intended to remove the Claimant from his position from at least March 2023 .

“The independent investigation was flawed and did not constitute a reasonable investigation.”

The documents later state: “The plaintiff is partially deaf and as a result he can often appear to be shouting, but this is due to his physical impairment which means he cannot easily recognize the volume of his own speech.

“The plaintiff often speaks at a higher volume, which would appear to be shouting to someone who is not disabled.

“The plaintiff’s dyslexia means he regularly mixes up words and confuses names and words. The Claimant uses nicknames to help him remember people.

No date has yet been set for the employment court, but the documents list Waddell as the sole plaintiff.

Meanwhile, among the six respondents are Bluebell Cars Bidco Ltd, Bluebell Cars Holding Ltd and Bluebell Cars Topco Ltd.

Those named on the list are current Big Motoring World directors Lawrence Vaughan, Reza Fardad and Thomas Clarke.

Car Dealer has contacted Bluebell Cars and Big Motoring World for comment.