A Waitrose wine specialist who was sacked for sharing a series of ‘offensive’ tweets has vowed to take the supermarket to court as he claimed the supermarket’s ‘woke‘ bosses have ‘destroyed’ his life.
Ben Woods, 41, had worked at the Henley branch of Waitrose in Oxfordshire for 25 years – since he was just 15 years old.
But after ‘woke’ bosses at the upmarket store launched a 27-page investigation into tweets from Mr Woods’ personal X account, he was sacked on Monday, March 24.
MailOnline previously revealed that the social media posts Mr Woods was being investigated for included a cartoon mocking trans ideology and a meme likening a black umbrella to Shamima Begum.
It appeared that was been enough to see the 41-year-old lose his livelihood after bosses at the supermarket merely sent him an email after more than two decades of service to confirm his dismissal.
Mr Woods said while he knew the decision was coming, he is ‘devastated’ for being sacked due to what he describes as sharing ‘lawful political debate’.
He told MailOnline: ‘To be sacked for my own political beliefs is devastating.
‘My account is a private account of views entirely my own where I make lawful political engagement and debate. To be cast aside for that is really upsetting.
Ben Woods, 41, had worked at the Henley branch of Waitrose in Oxfordshire for 25 years – since he was just 15 years old
But after ‘woke’ bosses at the upmarket store launched a 27-page investigation into tweets from Mr Woods’ personal account, he was sacked on Monday, March 24
We previously revealed that the social media posts Mr Woods was being investigated for included a cartoon mocking trans ideology and a meme likening a black umbrella to Shamima Begum
‘I gave such a long time to the company and not just my working life, but blood, sweat, and part of my soul too.’
Mr Woods, who says the decision has left him feeling suicidal, has confirmed he is planning to take the dismissal to the courtrooms.
He added: ‘An employer shouldn’t have the right to counsel you or sack you or discriminate against you just because of your protected beliefs.
‘I’m anti-woke and I raise genuine opinions and discussion on my X account.
‘Some people agree with my opinions, some people don’t. That always makes a great debate. And whether you agree with me or not, I shouldn’t have been put through something like this for my protected beliefs.
‘I’ve had my life destroyed because of what Waitrose deems doesn’t fit their ideology.’
The 41-year-old also scorned bosses at the supermarket, and said he hopes he has the chance to speak to them about the dismissal.
Mr Woods has likened his sacking to a case last year, where he alleged a female worker resigned from John Lewis after the company allowed ‘men who identify as females’ into women’s toilets
The 41-year-old was merely sent an email after more than two decades of service to confirm his dismissal
Mr Woods, who says the decision has left him feeling suicidal, has confirmed he is planning to take the dismissal to the courtrooms
Mr Woods said: ‘I want to say to the bosses at Waitrose that this is deplorable and shame on them for what they’ve done to me.
‘Woke ideology shouldn’t be forced upon people who work for the company.
‘As long as you’re doing your job right, you shouldn’t be told who to vote for or what, political opinions to have.
‘They are yours and you have a right to have them.’
The 41-year-old also said his freedom of expression rights being ‘throttled’ was ‘just another reason’ he would be taking the supermarket to an employment tribunal.
He added: ‘This is what our grandparents fought in the Second World War for, so we would be able to have freedom of expression.
The 41-year-old also said his freedom of expression rights being ‘throttled’ was ‘just another reason’ he would be taking the supermarket to an employment tribunal
The 41-year-old said ‘our grandparents fought in the Second World War so we would be able to have freedom of expression’
‘I think this story has become bigger than just me now. It’s become a story about every employee who doesn’t want to be a robot, as long as you’re expressing legitimate opinions and it’s not affecting your job.
‘I think I have a duty now to really hold not just my employer to account, but to try and change a precedent in employment law.
‘To have your life destroyed like this is all consuming and I don’t want anybody in the future to not be able to get over something like this.
‘I think by taking it to a tribunal and raising awareness is really important.’
Many of the posts which saw Mr Woods sacked were questions he would pose on the account ‘@benonwines’.
Of the ones that did have opinions, many people disagreed with him and many agreed.
The 41-year-old maintained he was simply a Conservative who enjoyed posting his views on social media, but his life started to crumble after Elon Musk’s retweet of his post about the grooming scandal which received 63 million views.
The wine specialist said: ‘I was getting quite a lot of visibility. I was doxxed. Two accounts put I worked at Henley-on-Thames and put a photo of me.
Mr Woods said his life started to crumble after Elon Musk’s retweet of his post about the grooming scandal received 63 million views
‘That got seen by a million people and Waitrose were aware then.
‘I’ve had death threats. I went into work to do my shift and someone said, ”you’ve got a phone call”.
‘I said, ”Hello, Waitrose wine department, how can I help you?”
‘This person said, ”We know who you are, we’re going to kill you.”’
Mr Woods praised Thames Valley Police for supporting him and trying to find the culprit but said Waitrose soon started its own investigation — into him.
He said: ‘When they started their investigation, I was suicidal. They suspended me. My anxiety was really shot to pieces. It still is.
‘The investigations were like interrogations – four hours long and it was awful. It was emotionally draining, really upsetting.
‘I’m in a real dark place. My doctor put me on antidepressants.’
Mr Woods praised Thames Valley Police for supporting him and trying to find the culprit who wished him a death threat but said Waitrose soon started its own investigation — into him
Mr Woods previously told MailOnline how he fears what his treatment could spell for other Waitrose employees.
‘Does that mean anyone who works for Waitrose can’t have an opinion? They’re not allowed to vote?
‘I’m very passionate about politics and my country. I have an opinion – my personal account has nothing to do with Waitrose. All views are my own.
‘I have to fight back and protect my name and image.
‘It’s been really hard. It’s very overwhelming. I’ve been there 25 years. It’s destroyed my life.’
Now he is raising money to support his legal battle against Waitrose with the help of employment lawyer Elliot Hammer from legal firm Branch Austin McCormick.
Hammer, who is the head of employment and a partner at Branch Austin McCormick, said: ‘Employees like Ben have rights under the Equality Act and Article 10 to manifest lawful beliefs and engage in robust debate about political matters’.
Contacted this evening, a Waitrose spokeswoman said: ‘We cannot discuss individuals so we won’t be commenting’.
Regarding Ben receiving a death threat over the phone at work, a spokesman for Thames Valley Police said: ‘Following an investigation after a report received into Thames Valley Police on January 4, an investigation was launched to seek to identify an offender.
‘However, this investigation did not lead to positive identification of a suspect, and as such, the case has now been filed, pending any new information coming to light.’
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