Group Action Success against Pharmaceutical Giant Testerworld Limited/DE Group
In one of the biggest cases dealt with to date the Employment department at Pearson secured a judgment for 279 claimants at the Employment Tribunal with a combined estimated value of approximately £1.5 million.
DE Group protective award claim
The case involved claims against multiple companies in the DE Group and involved proceedings in both the English and Scottish Employment Tribunals.
Commenting on the recent success, Partner and Head of Employment Law, Alan Lewis who led the protective award claim said:
“This was the most challenging protective award claim I have ever dealt with. We had to manage groups of claims from multiple locations throughout the UK, with tribunals in both England and Scotland taking different approaches to the case management of claims depending upon which depot employees had been made redundant from. Due to its size and complexity, the case required input from a significant team of specialist protective award lawyers and assistants. Ultimately we were successful on behalf of ever single claimant. Our success here is significant for all those involved and the damages reflect the size of the case.”
Testerworld Administration
Testerworld and Eclpse Generics collapsed into administration in May 2022 owing more than £57m. The pharmaceutical wholesaler, with branches all over the UK made up 1,000 redundancies. The employment law soliciotrs at Pearson Solicitors represented employees who had been made redundant from various depots including those situated at
- Doncaster,
- Prudhoe,
- Worthing,
- Basingstoke,
- Barnsley,
- Runcorn,
- Thurrock,
- Trafford,
- East Kilbride,
- Glasgow
Employment Tribunal Ruling
Both the Scottish and English Employment Tribunals ruled that the companies in the DE Group failed to comply with their duties to collectively consult with employee representatives before they were made redundant.
Each of the 279 claimants were awarded the maximum protective award of 90 days’ gross pay.
The Tribunal stated that the respondent failed to comply with its obligations under section 188 of the Trade Union Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 (TULCRA).
Alan Lewis, commented that:
“The demise of Testerworld Limited had a significant impact on the many employees and clients of the group. Companies of all sizes often fail to follow appropriate consultation procedures regarding widescale redundancies. This was certainly the case here and so a protective award claim was made. As a significant employer its collapse has had a knock on effect for many families and I was pleased to have been able to assist in obtaining additional compensation for those affected.”
How can we help?
For legal advice on employee rights or to make a protective award claim contact our employment law solicitors on 0161 785 3500 or email enquiries@pearsonlegal.co.uk.
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