Harrow Chronicle: Ex-BBC star and Channel 5 presenter, Dan Walker, faces an employment tribunal.
Channel 5 presenter, Dan Walker, is facing an employment tribunal following allegations of sexism, misogyny, and workplace bullying. The former BBC Breakfast host will face his ex-Channel 5 news co-anchor, Claudia–Liza Vanderpuije, at a hearing on April 20 in London. It’s reported that the hearing will last up to four days. Walker joined Channel 5 News in April 2022 and was named in the case alongside ITN, which produces the programme. A post shared by Dan Walker (@mrdanwalker) Dan Walker accused of sexism, misogyny, and bullying Walker has strongly denied the allegations. Addressing the claims, an ITN Spokesperson said: “This claim, which is denied in full, will be addressed through the tribunal process.” Vanderpuije left Channel 5 in 2023 after five years and has brought the claims after working with Walker in her final year at the broadcaster. According to a source at the Mail on Sunday: "Dan absolutely denies any sexism, misogyny, racism or bullying. It has been hanging over him for some years now. "He will be at London Central tribunal later this month. Nobody wants this but he will be there to tell the judge the truth. "There will be tonnes of witness statements which will talk to Dan’s character. "He has been absolutely stunned with the amount of people willing to support him. "He has been stunned and actually very upset to be accused of such things." It's understood that Walker has more than 50 character witness statements in support of him, which have been submitted by BBC journalists, Olympians and footballers. The Mail on Sunday reports that Vanderpuije has hired Phillip Scholfield's former lawyer, Jonathan Coad, who attempted to settle the complaint twice, but each time was rejected. Walker was previously the subject of an internal workplace investigation into alleged misconduct, which was not upheld and no misconduct was found. Last year, the former BBC host spoke to The Telegraph about the incident, sharing: "I haven’t really talked about it, but that was fully investigated, and everything was completely incorrect, and I was entirely vindicated by an independent inquiry. "So yeah, that’s not nice, but you hold on to what you know the truth is and ultimately the truth is the important thing." Walker's representatives have been contacted for a comment. Newsquest was unable to approach Vanderpuije representatives.