A FORMER Waitrose store worker in Melksham has been awarded a £22,000 pay-out after winning a claim against the company.

An Employment Tribunal in Bristol made the award to 36-year-old Michael Blakeborough after ruling the firm had mishandled an investigation into his grievances.

Mr Blakeborough, of Longford Road, Melksham, said: “They failed me. I was a model employee who put my trust in them but they failed to protect me and do the right thing.

“My voice was never heard and that put me in a place where at one stage I became very suicidal.”

He told the five-day tribunal in September that he had been “humiliated and belittled” by a Waitrose manager who still works for the retail supermarket chain.

Mr Blakeborough said the incident in November 2017 had left him suffering from anxiety and panic attacks.

The tribunal heard that Mr Blakebrough suffers from mental health conditions, including an anxiety disorder.

His partner, Donald Robson, who represented him at the hearing, told the tribunal judge Martha Street that during an internal investigation into Mr Blakeborough’s grievances, a Waitrose manager had failed to view the store’s CCTV footage, which would have provided evidence to support his claims.

In October, Mrs Street ruled that Mr Blakeborough’s claims against Waitrose’s parent company, the John Lewis plc, on February 9 2018 and June 20 2018 for direct discrimination and unfair constructive dismissal should succeed.

She dismissed his remaining claims of direct discrimination, harassment and victimisation and the company’s alleged failure to make reasonable adjustments for his mental health conditions.

Speaking after the December 5 remedy hearing, Mr Blakeborough said: “This highlights how mental health is not taken seriously in the workplace and is even weaponised in such a way to sweep any complaint under the carpet and to deny the voice of the employee from being heard.

A John Lewis plc spokesman said: “We have a zero tolerance approach to bullying and harassment and the Employment Tribunal in September did not uphold these allegations from Mr Blakeborough.

“However, it did uphold some of Mr Blakeborough’s claims in relation to how his grievance was dealt with and we have now reached a resolution.”