Alyn Williams to take legal action against The Westbury following alleged unfair dismissal

Public Announcement on behalf of Alyn Williams

Award-winning chef Alyn Williams would like to announce that his employment as the chef patron at the Michelin-starred Alyn Williams at the Westbury restaurant was terminated against his wishes by the Westbury Hotel at the beginning of October without any notice period or payment for his notice period.  As a result, he is no longer involved with the restaurant.

The reason The Westbury gave for his dismissal is that he used the restaurant without authority to entertain some friends on a Sunday lunchtime when the restaurant was closed.  As there were children present and playing in the restaurant, they claim this constituted gross misconduct which justified dismissal without notice or compensation.

Alyn appealed against the decision pointing out that all food and drink at the lunch was provided by him personally, no damage or loss was suffered by the hotel and the condition of the restaurant was carefully returned to the same state as prior to the lunch.  

Furthermore, he had used the restaurant in a similar way a number of times in the past with the knowledge of the management of the hotel.  The hotel dismissed his appeal. He believes he has a very strong case for unfair dismissal.

Alyn said: “I am understandably very upset and disappointed with the dismissal under these circumstances particularly since I have been employed by the hotel for the past eight years, have had an exemplary employment record and was responsible, through the restaurant, for bringing prestige to the Hotel, achieving a Michelin star which we maintained for eight successive years and four AA rosettes for five successive years.”

Both Alyn and the restaurant have a continuous record of receiving and being nominated for hospitality industry awards and a reputation for excellence among the public and within the industry.  

In addition to the circumstances of the termination of his employment, Alyn is extremely  unhappy that the Westbury Hotel is seeking to continue to use his name in connection with the restaurant.  

Alyn considers it necessary to make it public that he is not in any way involved at the restaurant at the Westbury Hotel and does not consent to, or condone, the continuing use of his name in connection with the restaurant.

Alyn has asked the hotel to remove all references to his name at the restaurant and on the website and to openly inform all customers and the general public that he is no longer the chef.  They initially said that they would ensure that they would be clear with customers that Alyn was no longer involved in the restaurant but, although they have taken some minor steps in this respect, they are currently not complying fully with this assurance and are con-tinuing to market the restaurant as the Alyn Williams restaurant. They are also continuing to charge the same prices as when Alyn was the chef.

Alyn is currently progressing the legal actions and processes which are necessary to enforce his rights as an ex-employee of the Westbury Hotel and to deal with the improper and continuing use of his name and reputation.