Personal trainer sacked by David Lloyd gyms after being accused of sexually harassing his colleagues loses wrongful dismissal claim and is left with £17,000 legal bill
A personal trainer sacked by David Lloyd gyms after he was accused of sexual harassment has lost a wrongful dismissal claim and been handed a £17,000 bill.
Alex West, 45, who worked at the chain's Cheam club in Surrey for nearly eight years, had his claims thrown out after a tribunal heard allegations he had sexually harassed several co-workers, submitted fake legal fees and refused to answer a single question at his own disciplinary hearing.
He then claimed to be virtually penniless when ordered to cover David Lloyd's legal fees - despite having skipped the hearing to go on holiday in Mexico.
The London South employment tribunal in Croydon heard that at the staff Christmas party on December 3 2021, West asked a male colleague 'are you a poofter?' and told a female co-worker to 'stop teasing him' when she bent over before asking her to 'put her bum on the pool table so he could do a better shot'.
He also touched another woman's stomach to ask if she was pregnant.
He was suspended eight days later and called to an investigation meeting - at which he made an opening statement and then refused to answer a single question put to him.
He also breached the terms of his suspension by making five separate visits to a David Lloyd gym in Epsom, where the tribunal found he solicited character references from clients - references which a judge later found had accidentally corroborated the allegations against him.
Alex West, 45, (pictured) who worked at the chain's Cheam club in Surrey for nearly eight years, had his claims thrown out after a tribunal heard allegations he had sexually harassed several co-workers
West submitted fake legal fees and refused to answer a single question at his own disciplinary hearing
At his disciplinary hearing on January 6 2022, West again made an opening statement and again refused to answer any questions - leaving his employer with, in the tribunal's words, 'absolutely no confidence' he would not repeat the behaviour.
At the tribunal itself, West attempted to make a three-hour opening statement before being told by the judge that was not how proceedings worked.
Employment Judge Victoria Wright described West as an 'evasive' and 'deflective' witness who appeared to have been coached, and dismissed his claim that the real reason for his dismissal was a grievance he had raised against David Lloyd in 2018.
His sexual orientation discrimination claim - in which he argued he had been forced out for being straight - was thrown out before the main hearing even began, after West failed to pay a deposit ordered by the tribunal.
West had submitted nearly £30,000 in legal fees as part of his claim - money he had never actually paid to the firm representing him, and which he had been explicitly told by a judge not to include. The firm, it emerged, was run by his own father.
His legal representative throughout was listed as Tower Legal Services - a firm operating via a hotmail address under the name 'John Tower'.
At every hearing, West was represented in person by his father Alan - who is also a fellow director of the company behind the firm, with West himself serving as company secretary.
West breached the terms of his suspension by making five separate visits to a David Lloyd gym in Epsom
When ordered to cover David Lloyd's legal fees, West submitted a financial statement showing net assets of minus £104 and savings of just £50
West's mother Elaine told the Daily Mail: 'It's been going on for so long and it's disgusting what they are saying about him'
When asked whether John Tower was a real person, Alan said he was 'part of the organisation' - before later claiming he had since left.
When ordered to cover David Lloyd's legal fees, West submitted a financial statement showing net assets of minus £104 and savings of just £50 - before skipping the costs hearing to fly to Cancun, Mexico on holiday.
Speaking from her terraced home in Surbiton, Surrey, West's mother Elaine told the Daily Mail: 'It's been going on for so long and it's disgusting what they are saying about him.
'He's got another job doing landscape gardening work, but he's disappointed with it - he's really been struggling mentally.
'His dad is helping to defend him, but they have told him to pay substantial costs and he hasn't got it and we haven't got it.
'He got leave to appeal and then they came back with more costs - it's almost £19,000 now, it's ridiculous. They have accused him of things that he just didn't do.
'The whole premise of what happened was ludicrous - it was lies and they had no evidence. One witness in Alex's favour wasn't even allowed to give evidence.
'There is a lot to this and they have told a lot of lies about him. I get upset thinking about it and he struggles emotionally with things like this.'
