The new owners of Farmison & Co, the upmarket DTC meat retailer, have been ordered to pay one of its founders over £115,000 for unfair dismissal.
John Pallagi was awarded a total of £115,352 at an employment tribunal in Leeds last month and is now exploring further litigation options over his exit from the business, The Grocer can reveal.
Employment judge Neil Maidment ruled Pallagi’s departure after Farmison’s rescue from administration did not comply with employment law under the Transfer of Undertakings Protection of Employment (TUPE) Regulations 2006.
Loss-making Farmison collapsed into administration on 6 April 2023 after rescue talks instigated by private equity owner Inverleith proved fruitless. It was acquired by a consortium led by former Asda boss Andy Clarke on 24 April 2023.
The judgment ruled that FL Meat Realisations Limited (which owned the original Farmison business that collapsed) and Farmison & Co Ltd (which acquired it from administration) were jointly liable for the TUPE contravention.
Farmison & Co Ltd was ordered to pay Pallagi a basic award of £9,645 and a compensatory award of £105,707 at the tribunal. Full detail on the judge’s findings are expected to be published later this month.
Pallagi had worked on a consortium to bring Clarke and former Farmison board member Gareth Whittle on board to rescue the business. But after the group took over he was dismissed.
Pallagi this week told The Grocer his compensation “has not been forthcoming”, despite an award payment deadline of 10 September.
“Unfortunately the matter of enforcement has now been passed to a specialist law firm,” he said.
“Due to the brutal nature of my exit in April 2023 I am also exploring further breaches which may have occurred. This is across a number of parties including a legal team that concluded the transaction for the consortium (Gateley PLC) to eventually buy Farmison & Co.”
He added: “I formed the consortium and worked tirelessly to help save the future of the company and jobs.
“When Andy Clarke took over, l was hugely enthusiastic and looking forward to working work with him. However, I was exited from the consortium and all future plans. I wanted to remain a part of the journey of the brand I founded and was devastated not to be involved.”
Responding to the judgement, a spokesman for Farmison’s new owners said the dispute related to the period when Farmison was in administration.
It was “awaiting the full reasoning why the tribunal concluded that the new company is liable in respect of the award. Once it receives that detail, it will then decide on the appropriate course of action”.
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