Waitrose wine expert claims he was suspended for sharing Telegraph cartoon

Yahoo

14-03-2025

A Waitrose supermarket worker claims to have been suspended for sharing Right-wing political views on X, including a Telegraph cartoon.
Ben Woods, from Henley-on-Thames in Buckinghamshire, said he is facing disciplinary proceedings over around 30 posts on the social media site.
He said these included a repost of a Matt cartoon, and another post where he asked 'If a referendum was held tomorrow, would you vote to close the borders?'
Mr Woods claimed he is being subjected to an internal investigation and disciplinary process and has been 'sold out' by his employer.
He claimed that Waitrose had searched his posts on X, formerly known as Twitter, for 'any they feel are suspicious, which in reality means anything that doesn't [fit] the woke orthodoxy'.
The worker, who is employed on the Henley store's wine counter and describes himself online as 'anti left and anti woke', said in a blog post: 'I believe to try to appease the left wing mob, Waitrose have investigated my X timeline in order to find any they feel are suspicious...
'They have even accused me of having the smell of alcohol on my breath, without thinking that I work on the wine tasting counter. They say they never knowingly undersell, but I believe they have sold me out.
'Waitrose want to discipline me for around 30 tweets, which I believe are simply an expression of my conservative, patriotic values. For example, one of my tweets is a Telegraph cartoon, in which a teacher at parent's evening says that 'your son is falling behind in Sex Education. He could only name 47 of the 100 different genders'.'
Mr Woods made the claims on a fundraising page, where he is seeking thousands of pounds for legal fees. He said the supermarket took action after one of his posts – where he suggested that the King should dissolve Parliament and order a new general election – was promoted by Elon Musk.
His other posts include a message of support for the far-Right activist Tommy Robinson, real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, who was jailed in October after admitting to 10 breaches of a High Court injunction that barred him from repeating libellous allegations against a Syrian refugee.
Mr Woods did not immediately respond to requests for further comment.
The Free Speech Union claimed there was a wider crackdown by employers on staff expressing opinions. It said: 'The Free Speech Union has been supporting Ben to date throughout this process. He is one of 260 ordinary people we're assisting right now who are being punished for their opinions.
'We've seen a spate of supermarket workers being investigated and penalised for their entirely lawful beliefs in the last few months alone. Supermarkets have no business snooping on the lawful political views of their employees.'
Waitrose declined to comment on the specifics of the case.
A spokesman said: 'We would never discuss individuals so I'm afraid no further comments will be made.'
The supermarket is understood to have detailed people policies which are in place to safeguard the welfare of all its workers. In the UK, employment laws protect workers from being unfairly dismissed for expressing political opinion.
John Lewis, the owner of Waitrose, laid out its social media policy in previous tribunal documents. It said any worker who identifies themselves as one of its employees must not post anything which can be considered 'bullying, harassing, or discriminatory towards any individual or group of individuals'.
It is not the first time that the partnership has been struck by controversy over its political positions. Last year, it faced a backlash for publishing a staff magazine which advises parents on how to find breast binders for trans children.
The controversy is the latest in a series of cases where individuals have claimed they are facing action in their workplace for expressing views.
Earlier this year, The Telegraph revealed that a housing officer was sacked for being a Reform UK candidate and reposting a Matt cartoon from The Telegraph.
According to legal filings, bosses cited the links to Reform and the reposting of a Telegraph cartoon as grounds for his unsuitability for the £37,000 a year job.
In the case, which remains ongoing, Hightown Housing Association denied that Mr Poursaeedi was sacked for his political views but has admitted his position with Reform was not compatible with 'a customer-facing role'.
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