A wealthy businessman’s wife was accused of forcing her housekeeper out of her job for blowing the whistle on alleged drug-taking, extra-marital sex, and neglect of her children.
The housekeeper said she found lines of class A drugs in the bathroom of the family home, as she accused the mother of drinking heavily and erratic drug-fuelled behaviour on a family day out.
She said she reported concerns about the mother’s behaviour in a bid to protect the children, and claimed that was the motive behind her subsequent sacking.
In an explosive tribunal claim - which has now been settled out of court - she also alleged the tycoon’s wife had videos on an iPad of her having sex with other men and the footage had been seen by the children. And she accused the wealthy family of paying part of her wages in cash to dodge tax.
The wife, together with a company managing the family affairs, denied the allegations, and said the housekeeper had been sacked for improperly taking money from the family accounts to pay her bills.
Last summer, a London tribunal judge decided at a private hearing that the businessman and his wife, as well as the housekeeper, should not be identified, on privacy grounds and to protect the welfare of the children.
The two sides came to the Central London employment tribunal last week, prepared to fight the competing claims at a public hearing.
On Tuesday, after several days of preliminary hearings, the housekeeper agreed to withdraw the employment tribunal claim, having reached an undisclosed settlement.
The deal was struck after The Standard asked a judge to decide if reporting restrictions should be partially lifted to allow reporting of the identities of those locked in the dispute.
The mother, referred to in the tribunal as Ms Q, denied allegations of drug taking and child neglect, and insisted sacking the housekeeper, Ms P, had been legitimate and justified.
Ms P was a trusted employee at the family’s London home and countryside retreat, but claims she was dismissed after several years on false allegations that she had been taking money and spending it on herself.
In her claim, she alleged Ms Q was “frequently drunk” and high on drugs, she says she saw lines of cocaine in the bathroom, and details an incident during a family day out when the mother is accused of taking drugs in the toilets before falling asleep on top of a table.
The housekeeper says she was paid £4,000 a month for her services, with half coming directly into her bank account and the rest withdrawn in cash, allegedly so that Ms Q could avoid paying the tax.
She says she was hired to cook and clean for the family, and took on duties looking after the couple’s children. She was given direct access to the family bank account so she could manage the budget and spend money on household necessities.
Ms P says she made disclosures to an official at the family office company which hired and managed staff for the tycoon and his wife.
“Ms Q was frequently drunk, and also appeared to be using illegal drugs”, she set out in her claim form to the employment tribunal.
“She appeared to the Claimant to be neglecting her duties to her children.
“The children remarked to the Claimant (with whom they have a close relationship) that their mother was frequently drunk.”
Ms P alleged that a nanny was hired to look after the children but was also supplying drugs to the mother, and she went on to set out the family day out allegation.
Ms Q, it was said, was with her children at the time, and “appeared to be drunk and/or to have taken drugs, and was behaving strangely.
“She was agitated, fidgeted and sniffed constantly, and shouted unnecessarily at the children.”
She claims the mother went to the toilet “for a prolonged period of time”, and was then found in a toilet cubicle with a runny nose.
“The Claimant concluded that Ms Q had taken cocaine and drunk excessive alcohol...and that she had taken more cocaine in the toilets”, she set out.
Ms P claimed the children themselves said they “did not feel safe when left alone with their mother”.
And she alleged that it was the children themselves who told her of “inappropriate” images on an iPad showing “Ms Q having sex with men other than their father”.
The housekeeper was set to rely on messages she sent to her boss, saying “I have never seen you that way”, suggesting she see a therapist, accusing her of being “full with white powder”. She says their relationship soured, she was told to carry out tasks beyond her job description, and she says she was then accused over payments coming out of the wife’s bank account.
Ms Q, in her defence to the claim, accused her former housekeeper of making false accusations in an attempt to “scandalise” the family.
She says Ms P was allowed to make payments on expenses for the family and guests, cover costs of maintaining the home, and any other expenses that she specifically authorised.
She says she did not check the bank account regularly, an audit was conducted after she fell victim to an unrelated fraud, and she alleged then noticed that Ms P had used money to “subside her own living costs”, particularly to settle a council tax bill.
Claims of unfair dismissal, detriment to a whistleblower, breach of contract, and unlawful deduction from wages were denied, and Ms Q denied the allegations of drug taking and child neglect.
In a letter to the tribunal on Tuesday, the housekeeper said her “claims are withdrawn on the basis that terms of settlement have been reached between the parties.” Both sides are expected to cover their own costs.
