Entrepeneur With No Heart

[mumps]

Hello, I'm just wondering if anyone can help us? My 21yr old chef son, was head hunted for a year and a half to build and open a restaurant from scratch. He finally agreed (he was happy and in a good job) to help the entrepeneur (who had absolutely no experience in hospitality whatsoever), and a month ago my son's and his boss' dreams came to fruition.
Two weeks later my son was taken out side of the restaurant and told by his boss with his (silent) girlfriend by his side, that he was letting my son go. My son had given his all for a year, working very long hours to finalise everything. He was given no warnings or anything. His position in the company was Executive Head chef. He brought all the chefs in and led/trained them. Everything was a success as far as my son could see, but his boss told him on the day he dismissed him and when he asked why he was being let go, that it was because he wasn't leading the team right.
Josh (my son) emailed his boss the next day asking for specific reasons for his dismissal, the reply he received was the contract that was drawn up last May (2017) stating that he was on 'garden leave'.
Two weeks later, Josh emailed his boss again, asking again for reasons, in the form of an official email, advised by ACAS, asking his boss to outline specific reasons for dismissal etc etc. The next day, which was the day BEFORE Josh's salary for the month was due to go into his account, his boss replied citing gross misconduct as per the terms in the '....contract and the staff handbook' and stating there had been an internal investigation.
Josh thinks this was done to preclude any salary being paid. There was no misconduct, gross or otherwise.

Please, does anyone know if he, (Josh) stands any chance of suing this man. He used Josh completely and utterly and then just threw him away. Emotive language, I know, but nevertheless it is a fact. We all tried to alert Josh to the possibility that this man may not be all he purports to be, and had a feeling that he may do exactly what he has done.
Is there any way for him to fight his case?

Thank you so much for any help or advice offered at all.

 

[BigPhill]

If he was employed and has less than two years service, you generally can't claim unfair dismissal, unless a protected characteristic has been breached. Such as a disability for example....

Did he have any shares / directorship in the new company or was he solely an employee?

 

[GTL]

Having been dumped upon very badly by someone in the licensed trade I sympathise strongly.

However I would do your best to get your son focussed on the future as best you can. I am afraid that there are utter c**nts in business life, especially in the licensed and restaurant trade and sadly it sounds like your son has just met one. There is unlikely to be any natural justice coming from this. It is just one of those experiences and I hope your son is able to learn from it.

The Gross Misconduct thing is just a convenient ruse; insulting and degrading as it sounds. Try not to take this to heart.

The fury will ebb but probably never completely dissapear. But speaking frankly, I am afraid that your son will just have to get over it. In the circumstances described above it is the only sensible and constructive thing to do.

Good luck.

 

[tony84]

If someone had head hunted me for a year, I would be wanting shares in the business.

But as has been said, very little can be done.

Letter before action for wages + holiday pay, if not paid within 14 days you will submit it to small claims court and add interest at 8% and court costs.

 

[NDT Level 3]

Something similar happened to me but it involved family and it was 10 years of being led up the garden path not one. Whilst heartbreaking at the time, in hindsight these things in the long run often turn out to be for the best (Imagine if you son had given 5 years of his life only to be shafted by the boss!)

Try to get him to look at the positive aspects of the whole experience. For example he now knows (and has proof) that he is capable of such a big undertaking, and believe me the second time his does it, it will be ten times easier.

One final point would be not to waste any more time thinking about the loser of a boss he once had, life is too short to stay bitter and resentful. People will respect you more if you move on rather than let your life be defined by what might, should or could have been.

I've often found that if you can find it in your heart to forgive (or at least not hate) the person and move on with your life, further down the line karma often has a habit of righting such wrongs.

Best of luck with whatever your son chooses to do next!

 

[MBE2017]

As mentioned little you can do except get the owed money.

As for the dismissal, get your lad to move on, he’s very young. Anyone can struggle to lead people at any age, particularly when young. Whether it’s truthful or not I doubt he will ever find out, what he can take for granted is his former employer has dealt badly with the situation, and the venture will most likely fail at some point in the next 2/3 years.

 

[Nochexman]

As others have said make sure you get the money owed and then move on. Very little to be gained otherwise.

 

[Noah]

the venture will most likely fail at some point in the next 2/3 years.

Agreed - revenge is a dish best served cold and all that. If he has really treated your son like this, he will not be able to retain good staff and will have problems with suppliers too. Pity about the collateral damage he will do along the way...