Former Apprentice winner Stella English has lost her claim of constructive dismissal against millionaire businessman Lord Sugar. Ms English, 34, sued the Labour peer after resigning from the £100,000-a-year job that was her prize for winning series six of the BBC1 show in 2010. She had complained her role at Lord Sugar's Viglen division was that of an "overpaid lackey", which her former boss strongly denied. Ms English also claimed the job was "a sham" and a "PR construct", a tribunal heard last month. The businessman insisted he had no case to answer and that Ms English was a "chancer" and a "money-grabber" who brought the case with the intention of settling out of court. "I'm afraid she underestimated me and her reputation is now in tatters," Lord Sugar said. In a written judgment, tribunal judge John Warren said: "This was a claim which should never have been brought."
Ms English and Lord Sugar pictured after she won The Apprentice Lord Sugar has now vowed to take on the so-called claim culture as a "personal crusade". He said: "She picked on the wrong person here and I do hope that, apart from it being a victory for me, that other business people will start to realise they shouldn't succumb to this type of blackmail and they should fight it." After winning the TV series, Ms English was given a job at Viglen, supplying IT equipment to academy schools. But she claimed that when the business mogul told her he would not be renewing her contract she was given no choice but to resign. Ms English, who quit Viglen in May 2011, said she had no real role there and was not taken seriously by her colleagues. She said she did not feel like Lord Sugar's "apprentice" as she only saw him five times during her 13-month employment. Ms English had fought back tears in court as she said she was given no guidance about what she was meant to be doing, and was "ostracised" by her colleagues. She claimed her employment was a "sham" and that she had been relegated to administrative tasks.
Lord Sugar said Ms English tried to 'extract money' from him Ms English, of Whitstable, Kent, also said she felt pressurised into taking up a new position at Lord Sugar's internet set-top box company YouView, but the tribunal panel said this was unfounded. In September 2011, Ms English was told that her contract was not being renewed and she then quit. However, the peer said at the time there was no long-term position available at YouView and that she had already made it clear she did not want to work at Viglen. Lord Sugar said during the case that Ms English wrongly believed he was "scared" of articles about him or The Apprentice appearing in the press and that he would pay her off to avoid a hearing. The tribunal judgment said it was made "abundantly clear" to Ms English that she would not be working directly under Lord Sugar. It said she had the wrong idea about how glamorous, or otherwise, the role would be and that she had stated in her evidence that she believed previous winners of The Apprentice "had accompanied Lord Sugar in his private jet". Lord Sugar said afterwards: "There was never a case for us to answer but her need for money and fame meant that the whole system was subjected to this charade. "I have been cleared of a derisory attempt to smear my name and extract money from me. "The allegations were without substance, and I believe this case was brought with one intention in mind - the presumption that I would not attend the tribunal, that I would not testify and that I would settle out of court, sending Ms English on her way with a tidy settlement." He added: "This case was a sham and a total abuse of a tribunal system, which is there to protect employees who have been mistreated. "It is not there to aid those chancing their arm at landing a big payday. I hope that other companies will learn from this example and also fight off derisory claims." |
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