An estate agent has been awarded more than £21,000 in compensation after a tribunal found he was unfairly forced out of his job following a dispute over which desk he should occupy.
Property Soup revealed in March how Nicholas Walker (main picture) resigned from Robsons Estate Agents in Hertfordshire after being told he would no longer sit at the “back desk” traditionally reserved for branch managers, but instead at a “middle” desk. He argued the move undermined his status and effectively signalled a demotion.
Walker, who joined Robsons in 2017 as manager of its Rickmansworth branch, was later transferred to Chorleywood. In May 2023 he was asked to return to Rickmansworth after his replacement left.
Unknown to him, management had decided he would share responsibility with a junior colleague, Matthew Gooden, who had already taken the manager’s desk.
CONCERNS RAISED
When Walker raised concerns, sales director Daniel Young dismissed them, reportedly telling him he could not believe a “53-year-old man” was “making a fuss about a desk.” The exchange escalated and ended with Walker resigning on the spot.
Two days later he attempted to withdraw his resignation, but the company declined and instead accelerated his departure, paying him in lieu of notice.
The Daily Mail reports that the Watford employment tribunal concluded that Walker had been constructively dismissed, ruling that being denied the manager’s desk carried “practical and symbolic significance” and reasonably suggested a demotion.
Judge Aku Reindorf said: “From Mr Walker’s point of view, finding out that he would be sitting at the middle desk amounted to being told he would be assistant manager.”
Walker was awarded £21,411 for unfair dismissal. His claim of age discrimination, however, was dismissed.
Robsons Estate Agents has not publicly commented on the decision.
