My Big Fat Gypsy Tribunal: TV show's wedding dressmaker 'unfairly fired her £400-a-week head designer after row at shop'

• Thelma Madine, 61, employed Leanne Phillips, 31, as head designer at Nico Bridal Company in Liverpool
• She praised her for taking firm 'to another level' in her autobiography
• But now Phillips is suing after being fired from the company last December
• Madine rose to fame on Big Fat Gypsy Weddings then starred in spin-off

By Claudia Joseph
A dressmaker made famous by appearing on TV's Big Fat Gypsy Weddings is being sued for sacking the head designer at her boutique.
Thelma Madine paid Leanne Phillips £400 a week to design dresses for Nico Bridal Company, based in Liverpool, and praised her for taking the business 'to another level'.
But last December, she fired the 31-year-old after six years, allegedly after a row at the shop.

Sued: Thelma Madine, who found fame on Big Fat Gypsy Weddings, is facing a claim for unfair dismissal from her former head designer

Sacked: Leanne Phillips was fired from Nico Bridal Company last December after working there for six years

Ms Madine, 61, makes wedding and christening dresses aimed at young women and girls from the traveller community.
She was featured on Channel 4's reality TV show Big Fat Gypsy Weddings, and went on to star in her own spin-off, Thelma's Gypsy Girls.

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Ms Phillips also featured in the show as one of Ms Madine's closest associates - but on December 6 last year, she was sacked from Nico.
She is now suing her former boss for unfair dismissal at an employment tribunal which will take place next Monday.

 

 

 

 

Collaborators: Ms Phillips, left, and Ms Madine, right, posing with a dress made of hair

Fame: Ms Madine, 61, spent time in prison before achieving celebrity on Channel 4

In her claim, Ms Phillips alleges her boss sacked her after a row, then attempted to gather further evidence against her by quizzing other employees.
She also claims the workplace was ‘unstructured’ when it came to disciplinary matters, and that attempts to appeal her boss's decision were ignored.
The former designer also says that Ms Madine was often at the centre of 'heated arguments' at the business, which never led to disciplinary action against anyone else.
Responding to the claims in an official tribunal court document, Ms Madine admitted that no formal disciplinary policy existed but claimed she felt intimidated during the row, which was apparently sparked when the employee asked for a day off.

She added that she had conducted a lengthy disciplinary hearing into the issue, and said she had not withheld any information from Ms Phillips.
Ms Madine said that she only consulted Ms Phillips' colleagues in order to obtain evidence about the argument, and added that those co-workers freely volunteered information about previous alleged wrongdoing.
She denied that there was 'a culture of arguments involving shouting, swearing and intimidation' at the business.

Extravagant: One of the over-the-top wedding dresses featured in Big Fat Gypsy Weddings

Praise: Ms Madine once described Ms Phillips as 'full of imaginative ideas and passion' as an employee

'I totally deny any wrongdoing,' Ms Phillips said. 'I believe I was unfairly treated after a long and loyal service.
'It has been really hard to come to terms with. My job at Nico was my life and losing it was heartbreaking.
'It came at completely the wrong time, as I was recently engaged and planning my own wedding. I had never been out of work since leaving school and found unbearable the thought of signing on benefits a few weeks before Christmas.
'After Christmas, I started job-hunting - I even applied for a job at a hotel, but my fiancé and family were upset that I was wasting my talents so they encouraged me to set up my own business.

'I can't wait until the tribunal is over and I can put that part of my life behind me. I am looking forward to designing and making my own dresses for the travelling community and building a future for myself and my family.'

She has now set up a competing design company, Leanne Alexandra, which also makes dresses for travellers.

Wacky: A palm tree dress and a pineapple dress worn by participants in the Channel 4 show

Boutique: Ms Madine employed Ms Phillips at this Nico Bridal Shop in Liverpool

Ms Madine effusively praised Ms Phillips in her autobiography, Tales Of The Gypsy Dressmaker, which was published last year.
She wrote: 'Leanne is now the head designer at Nico and is starting to oversee parts of the process that I had to do, which is great, because it means that I can concentrate on other parts of the business.
'I used to feel that every one of my dresses was like my baby and that no one could do them as well as me - I am a bit of a control freak! - but I know now that the future of Nico is in Leanne's hands.
'Since she started working for me, Leanne has taken Nico to another level.
'And I have to admit that she reminds me of me at her age, full of imaginative ideas and passion for the task in hand.'
Ms Madine, a mother of three, started sewing 18 years ago after the breakdown of her marriage, and began by selling dresses at a market stall in Liverpool.
Despite serving four months in jail for benefit fraud, an experience which she said she 'thoroughly enjoyed', her business has apparently thrived since she found TV fame.
Ms Madine was unavailable for comment on the upcoming employment tribunal.