An estate agent has made a £500,000 claim against his former employer, Felicity J Lord, part of Spicerhaart.
Abdul Samad, 39, is taking the firm to an employment tribunal.
Samad – known as Sam – claims he was forced out after ‘whistleblowing’.
The former manager of the Felicity J Lord branch in Bow, east London, he said the firm pretended to be selling more homes than it was, and that there was “misrepresentation of market share” to make the firm seem more successful than it was.
He believes this was being done because a stock market flotation was being considered.
Samad, who resigned in February 2015, is claiming constructive unfair dismissal, racial and religious discrimination and victimisation.
Spicerhaart says that no flotation was contemplated, and this morning robustly denied all the claims. It is defending the tribunal proceedings.
In papers to the tribunal, seen by the London Evening Standard, Samad claims that staff were “committed to creating a false impression of the business by instructing the claimant and other branch partners not to remove stock that were no longer available for sale and/or lettings from the various marketing portals”.
The Standard reports that he claims he was told to “misrepresent the public, potential shareholders and customers about the respondent’s market share of properties at the claimant’s branch and profits”.
The documents state that Samad believed the inflation of market share was being manipulated to benefit the directors and shareholders “as they were incentivised to earn commission from the wrongdoing”.
In the papers, he claimed he was told the disciplinary proceedings against him would be discontinued if he withdrew his complaint of discrimination and his whistleblowing claims.
Samad’s lawyer Jahad Rahman, said: “It is my client’s case there is public interest in ensuring that estate agents and companies offering financial services do not create misleading impressions of their market share. He says he was effectively forced out of a job he loved.”
Spicerhaart told EYE this morning: “We understand that a number of allegations have been made by one former branch employee of Spicerhaart Group Limited.
“In particular, we understand it has been alleged that Spicerhaart Group Limited employees may have sought to manipulate information intending to increase the value of Spicerhaart Group Limited ahead of a planned flotation.
“We can state categorically that there is no such plan to float Spicerhaart Group Limited or any of its subsidiary companies. Spicerhaart Group Limited is privately owned and proudly independent and will remain so for the foreseeable future.”
“These allegations arise out of claims made by a former employee and are the subject of an ongoing case in the employment tribunal. Spicerhaart Group Limited is robustly defending these claims. Given that the matter is the subject of an ongoing case, we are unable to comment in detail on the allegations since we do not wish to prejudice the case.
“We can, however confirm that Spicerhaart Group demands the highest standards of its employees and will not hesitate to act where individuals fail to meet those standards.”
According to his Linked In profile, Samad was with Spicerhaart for just over 14 years, joining as a trainee negotiator in 2001.
He is now managing director of Estateology, in Canada Square, Docklands.
Allegations of portal juggling?
Pulls up a sandbag
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Good for him.
Although a little opportunistic, if it is true agents have lied about market share in advertising or to potential investors then they deserve to be pulled up on it.
However what is the betting we hear no more on this story and Mr Samad walks away happy with a low 5 figure sum.
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As much as we both probably dislike the defendant in this case, ‘good for him’ surely doesnt fit. A money grabbing chancer? Weakening the prospects for genuine claims? Making some companies think twice when faced with a choice between two applicants? And finally lining the pockets of lawyers, whilst increasing yours and my insurance costs. Was he made unemployable by this? Where is the loss?
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I agree Beano,
Other flip of the coin we know large chains lie about a whole host of things, from market share to the amount of buyers they reach or the click through rate they achieve with additional advertising spend.
Then you have the onliners which make dubious claims on savings.
If more companies are taken to task on their shoddy business practices it will deter others from fluting the law. I am happy to pay an extra few pounds a year in insurance to help combat this.
End of the day if the agent has acted decent and proper manner they have nothing to fear.
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Just wondering if he was completely against this whilst it was benefiting him with instructions and subsequent commission?
Or if it was just afterwards when he was filing a case!
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From the complainants LinkedIn page….and we are to believe that he knew nothing of the claims he now makes? It either didn’t happen or he was complicit.
‘Before even reaching the end of his second year, due to his incredible performance as a sales negotiator, Sam was promoted to branch manager of the Bow office and has gone from triumph to triumph ever since. Out of two hundred offices, Sam has led Bow to the number one position seven years in a row for Felicity J Lord with profits reaching heights that most thought impossible’
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Just goes to show you 14 years of loyalty to your employer doesn’t always bode well for your future. I do wonder how long the average employee stays with S.H. ?
Perhaps Mr S you might like to tell everyone what a happy ship you sail many, many long standing managers and negotiators. After all you probably have a vacancy or two to fill and I’m sure potential candidates would like to know if they will be well looked after, Or Not ?
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What is meant by
“Making some companies think twice when faced with a choice between two applicants? ”
in Beano’s coment????
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Welcome back, ‘J1’.
I would appreciate if you could revisit yesterday’s article and your posts, as I have requested some information from you.
Thanks in anticipation.
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