Proposed Purplebricks Class Action Lawsuit Overview:
- Who: A pressure group will pursue a class action lawsuit against Purplebricks and other online estate agencies.
- Why: Purplebricks allegedly misclassified workers as self-employed and improperly denied them holiday pay and pension compensation.
- Where: The Purplebricks class action lawsuit affects workers across the United Kingdom.
Contractors for Justice (C4J), a pressure group, has said that it will pursue a Group Litigation Order against Purplebricks and other online estate agencies on behalf of hundreds of people who were hired as self-employed estate agents.
C4J alleges these self-employed agents should have been entitled to holiday pay and pension contributions by Solihull-based Purplebricks. The group says it has identified enough claimants “to trigger the legal process against Purplebricks,” according to TheBusinessDesk.com.
Potential claimants had until midnight on Dec. 14 to submit their intention to proceed, according to a C4J statement.
“From the day that we announced we were supporting formerly self-employed estate agents in a claim to recompense their holiday pay and statutory pension contributions, my team have been inundated with interest from hundreds upon hundreds of Purplebricks agents in particular,” C4J spokesman Peter Fletcher said.
C4J Alleges Purplebricks Misclassified Workers as ‘Self-Employed’
“Our case is clear,” Fletcher said. “Companies that masquerade their staff as self-employed in order to save themselves huge sums in employment costs will end up simply funnelling that cash back to individuals that have lost out by being part of such schemes.”
The proposed Purplebricks class action lawsuit will seek as much as 20.7% of each individual’s total earnings.
Fletcher notes that it is possible that a second cohort of potential claimants will be necessary at some point in the future, depending on interest.
Purplebricks denies that its payment model was improper. “We have always taken legal advice in regards to our model – and the advice is very clear that there is no legal basis for this potential action,” the company said in a statement.
Purplebricks Class Action Could Provide £20M to Eligible Claimants
Even if the proposed Purplebricks class action lawsuit is not successful, individual participants will not have to pay any legal fees.
However, if the Purplebricks class action lawsuit is successful, individual claimants could be entitled to thousands of pounds. The group estimates that the Purplebricks class action lawsuit could provide more than £20 million in compensation to eligible claimants.
Do you think Purplebricks is entitled to pay agents who are allegedly self-employed holiday pay and pension contributions? Tell us your thoughts in the comments section below.
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