MAFS star loses case against ex-bosses after he was sacked for going AWOL to appear on reality show
Date: 2024-10-29A MAFS star has lost a case against his former employers after he was sacked for going AWOL to appear on a reality show.
Luke Worley claimed he was unfairly dismissed by bosses at EE after he was axed from his role as a store manager.
The 32-year-old lost an employment tribunal after a panel found he took unauthorised time off to film dating show The Language of Love with Davina McCall.
Luke, who appeared on Married at First Sight last year, flew to Spain after telling bosses he would be taking the “opportunity” to launch his career as a reality TV star.
When he returned from his unauthorised absence in 2021, he was sacked.
Luke took EE to the tribunal claiming there was a “misunderstanding” but a judge branded his claims “incredible”.
The court was told he had started working for EE in 2018, with his contract stating all holiday requests had to be approved by a manager.
Luke booked off a week holiday at the start and end of September 2021.
He was offered the chance to appear on the Channel 4 show, which saw Brits try to form relationships with people who spoke a different language.
This application was refused by manager Paul Redhead as it was a particularly busy period due to the launch of a new iPhone.
On September 13, Luke did not show up at work or inform his bosses that he would be off.
After further attempts to make contact, Mr Redhead emailed to inform him that he the absence was unauthorised and he had been “AWOL” from that date.
Luke was invited to a disciplinary hearing on October 7 where he was dismissed.
The star tried to sue EE for unfair dismissal, breach of contact, and disability discrimination but all his claims were thrown out.
He claimed due to his dyslexia, he struggled to understand the AWOL policy.
Judge Stephen Shore found his diagnosis came from a non-medical report that was not carried out by anyone with the relevant qualifications.
He added: “[Mr Worley] did not have a legitimate reason for absence.
“We find that [Mr Worley] was capable of reading, understanding, and following the AWOL Policy.”
Luke was paired with Jay Howard on last season’s Married at First Sight UK.
The pair were forced to leave the show after Luke had a physical bust-up with his co-star Jordan Gayle.
Despite being one of the stronger couples on the E4 show, he and Jay split before the reunion.
In January, Luke spoke out about his brother’s “betrayal” after it was revealed he was jailed for eight years over a £3million cocaine stash.
He said: “I was gutted. It was a betrayal. I wish he had told me and opened up if he was struggling but I felt for him because he must have felt it was a last resort.
“I was having to deal with the unknown, I had never known anyone going to prison and it was obviously my brother… It was all grief, grief, grief.”
