Shilpa Shetty’s V8 Gourmet restaurant group has successfully won a £150k employment tribunal against previous director Jamal Hirani, who claimed he was ‘constructively dismissed’ from the company earlier this year.
Hirani was chief executive and founder of Gourmet Restaurants, whose Indian restaurant brands Vama, Tiffinbites and Bombay Bicycle Club were bought by V8 Gourmet when it went into administration in January this year.
The group’s financial difficulties caused the directors of Gourmet Restaurants to suspend Hirani pending an investigation into the cause of the problems, but when V8 Gourmet took over, Hirani claimed he had been dismissed to make way for TV star Shetty and Raj Kundra, who bought a 33 per cent share in August this year.
The tribunal however found Hirani had not been constructively dismissed, ruling that V8 Gourmet had ‘reasonable and proper cause for their actions’ concerning his suspension, and found no proximity between his suspension and the recent investment of Shetty and Kundra.
Arjun Varma, managing director of the group, said: “We are delighted to hear the verdict, which vindicates Shilpa, V8 Gourmet Group and my brother Andy & myself. Truth & Justice have prevailed and we are very pleased with the outcome.”
Hirani was however awarded a ‘very modest’ holiday upgrade payment of £1.3k. V8 Gourmet has said they will now reserve the right to file a defamation suit against Hirani.