BBC says Gregg Wallace isn't entitled to damages, as it denies causing 'distress and harassment'

The BBC has said Gregg Wallace is not "entitled to immoderate damages" successful effect to a High Court assertion filed by the presenter - successful which helium says the broadcaster caused him "distress and harassment".

The erstwhile MasterChef presenter is suing the broadcaster and its subsidiary BBC Studios Distribution Limited aft helium was sacked from the cooking amusement successful July.

Wallace was dismissed aft an probe into humanities allegations of misconduct upheld aggregate accusations against him.

He has filed a ineligible assertion for up to £10,000 successful damages, alleging the BBC failed to comply with a petition for copies of his idiosyncratic data, which caused "distress and harassment".

In its defence filed astatine the High Court, Jason Pobjoy KC, for the BBC, said: "It is denied that the claimant has suffered immoderate distress oregon harassment arsenic a effect of the responses of the BBC.

"It is denied that the claimant is entitled to immoderate damages, involvement oregon different relief, whether arsenic pleaded oregon otherwise."

The broadcaster further denied that Wallace "has suffered immoderate distress oregon harassment" arsenic a effect of its responses.

The tribunal documents besides assertion that the presenter failed to springiness the BBC anterior announcement of his volition to contented ineligible proceedings.

The broadcaster has admitted Wallace wrote to it connected 6 March this year, asking for copies of his idiosyncratic data.

Mr Pobjoy said the BBC did not supply Wallace with a "substantive response" wrong 3 months of his petition "primarily owed to the deficiency of proportionality and scale".

He said that aft designating the petition arsenic complex, the BBC responded to Wallace connected 7 October and provided him with a transcript of his idiosyncratic data.

The barrister said the "voluntary disclosure demonstrates that the claimant has nary ground to assertion damages for distress, oregon otherwise, successful respect of the withholding of specified information".

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Court documents filed connected behalf of Wallace past period said the BBC emailed the presenter connected 7 August to apologise for the hold successful sending his idiosyncratic data.

Barrister Lawrence Power said the broadcaster told Wallace it was "taking each tenable steps" to process the petition successful "as timely a mode arsenic imaginable going forward", but that helium had inactive not received a effect erstwhile the tribunal documents were filed.

He said that by "failing to afloat comply with the taxable entree requests" made by Wallace, "the defendants acted successful breach of their statutory work and, successful doing so, caused distress and harassment to the claimant".

Wallace began co-presenting MasterChef successful 2005, but it was announced successful November 2024 that helium would measurement distant from his relation portion the misconduct allegations were investigated.

A reappraisal by instrumentality steadfast Lewis Silkin aboriginal upheld 45 of the 83 allegations against him, including 1 of "unwelcome carnal contact".

Wallace issued an apology, saying helium was "deeply atrocious for immoderate distress caused" and that helium "never acceptable retired to harm oregon humiliate".