Compel set to fight case with ex-Info'P staff

Compel will be forced to defend legal action initiated by about 50 former Info'Products staff after they finally issued proceedings over issues with their redundancies.

As exclusively revealed in PC Dealer (13 January), the ex-staff, led by former company director and legal adviser George Fodor, had been threatening to challenge Compel under European Law relating to the transfer of staff from an acquired firm, following Compel's acquisition of Info'Products.

The first claim made by the staff last week alleged Compel failed to provide adequate notice to more than 150 people made redundant.

If an organisation makes more than 100 employees redundant, it is obliged to offer a 90-day consultation period to staff. Compel has disputed the claims, insisting it dealt with the redundancies fairly and legally. It claims each of the Info'Products branch offices was operating as individual divisions with less than 100 staff, rather than as a single entity, and provided 30 days' notice.

However, Fodor claimed they were merely satellite branches 'that could not have operated without the Chelmsford office', and should therefore be treated as one firm.

Some of the plaintiffs will also pursue individual unfair dismissal cases, Fodor claimed.

According to Allan Lewis of Mullis & Peake, solicitors acting for the ex-Info'Products staff, if Compel is found to have breached the law, it will have the option to negotiate a settlement in lieu of the presiding judge dictating a penalty.

Neville Davis, chairman and chief executive of Compel, said he was unaware of the legal proceedings but insisted Compel would 'contest each and every action' brought against it.