Victimisation Discrimination : Whistleblowing – Protected disclosure
The Appellant was a policeman who was subjected to a series of detriments and was ultimately dismissed by his employer. During the course of his employment, the Appellant made a number of protected disclosures as defined in section 43B of the Employment Rights Act 1996. He contended that the fact that he had made those protected disclosures influenced the employer in acting as it did and was the reason, or the principal reason, for his dismissal. The tribunal concluded that the employer acted as it did because of the Appellant’s long term absence on sickness grounds together with the manner in which the Appellant had pursued his complaints. The Appellant would not accept any answer save that which he sought and, if he was not satisfied with the action taken following a complaint, he would pursue the matter to ensure that his view prevailed. As a result, the employer was having to devote a great deal of management time to responding to the Appellant’s correspondence and complaints and the Appellant became completely unmanageable. The Employment Appeal Tribunal held that the tribunal was entitled to treat those particular factors as separable from the fact that the Appellant had made protected disclosures and to decide that those factors were the reason why the employer acted as it did. Further, the Employment Appeal Tribunal held that tribunal had not approached the matter on the basis that, as the Appellant had made a number of protected disclosures, there came a time when subsequent disclosures of information could not qualify as protected disclosures; the tribunal had adopted a correct approach.
Lewis J
[2014] UKEAT 0436 – 13 – 1604, [2014] ICR D23
Bailii
England and Wales
Employment
Updated: 03 December 2021; Ref: scu.525197
