Gregg Wallace alleges BBC caused him 'distress and harassment' in legal claim
By Callum Parke, PA Law Reporter
Former BBC MasterChef presenter Gregg Wallace is claiming up to £10,000 (€11,500) in damages from the BBC and one of its subsidiaries after they allegedly caused him “distress and harassment” by failing to disclose his personal data, court documents show.
Mr Wallace is suing the BBC and BBC Studios Distribution Limited after being sacked in July.
His dismissal followed an investigation into historical allegations of misconduct, which upheld multiple accusations against him.
The BBC and BBC Studios have not yet filed a defence to the claim.
In court documents, barrister Lawrence Power said that Mr Wallace had requested “personal data” from the BBC and BBC Studios related to “his work, contractual relations and conduct”.
Mr Power continued that Mr Wallace made subject access requests (SARs) to both the BBC and BBC Studios on March 6.
Requests for access to personal data should be processed within a month, but this deadline can be extended if the information is complex, Mr Power said.
The barrister continued that on August 7, the BBC emailed Mr Wallace to apologise for the delay and stated they were “taking all reasonable steps” to process the request in “a timely manner as possible going forward”, but he has still not received a response.
BBC Studios is claimed to have told Mr Wallace that it was withholding parts of his personal data due to “freedom of expression”.
Mr Power said that the body had “wrongly redacted” information and had “unlawfully failed to supply all of the claimant’s personal data”.
He said: “By reason of the defendants failing to fully comply with the SARs made by the claimant for his own personal data, the defendants acted in breach of their statutory duty and in doing so caused distress and harassment to the claimant.”
Mr Power said that Mr Wallace was seeking damages for “distress, harassment and loss of amenity not exceeding £10,000”, damages under the UK General Data Protection Regulation, and interest.
He is also seeking a court order that the BBC and BBC Studios comply with the subject access requests.
