I was delighted to help my client with his claims regarding whistleblowing and unfair dismissal at the Employment Tribunal. For more information read on.
My Client’s Story
My client had been working at car dealership. In the course of his employment, he noted various scams being perpetrated by other members of staff both against his employer and to the detriment of his employer’s customers.
At the time, he thought the situation was limited to two or three members of staff. He therefore went to his Line Manager with his concerns and whistle blew about what was going on. The Line Manager pretended to take his concerns seriously but, in fact, told his colleagues that my client had reported them. As a consequence, my client was subjected to systematic and sustained bullying by his Line Manager has his colleagues at work.
The bullying progressed to a situation where my client was subjected to a wholly unfounded and unjustified disciplinary process. In the course of defending himself in the disciplinary action, my client produced evidence of his whistleblowing and the bullying he had endured. He was also able to identify that his Line Manager was involved and had evidence of those engaged in the conspiracy which included the person responsible for making a decision in respect of disciplinary action.
My client received a disciplinary sanction which he appealed to the head office of his employer. In so doing, he set out in detail all the managers on site he had spoken to. He provided evidence of the conspiracy against him where staff and managers were openly discussing a way in which to force him out of the company. He also provided evidence of the various scams and where he had notified managers of those involved and the impact on the company and their customers.
By this stage, it became clear that nearly all staff at the branch were implicated in the various ongoing scams. Either directly benefiting or assisting others to cover up the evidence of what had been happening. My client’s disciplinary sanction was overturned but no steps were taken to protect him at work.
He endured repeated attempts to subject him to disciplinary action at branch level – all entirely unjustified. Unlike the staff involved in the conspiracy, his every action was scrutinised and he was constantly fearful that any slight mistake at work could result in disciplinary action.
As a consequence of the Coronavirus pandemic, his employer immediately put him on furlough leave. Whilst his colleagues were all allowed to return to work after a few weeks, he was forced to remain on furlough leave at reduced salary. Then his employers decided that redundancies were needed at his branch. Following a complete sham of a redundancy procedure, the employer decided (unsurprisingly) that the only redundancy necessary was in my client’s department and the only person who needed to be made redundant was my client.
It was clear that, in fact, there was no genuine redundancy situation, and the motivation was to remove my client from the company – the sham redundancy process succeeding where ongoing bullying and repeated disciplinary action had failed.
Employment Tribunal Claim
I assisted my client in presenting all of his claims at the Employment Tribunal. We brought claims in relation to the bullying and unjustified disciplinary action he had suffered as detriments for being a whistle-blower. We also brought a claim for automatic unfair dismissal tying the decision to terminate his employment to his status as a whistle-blower rather than any genuine fair redundancy. We also brought a claim for ordinary unfair dismissal as irrespective of all the other matters, the employer had not even attempted to go through a fair redundancy consultation process.
Initially, my client’s claims were resisted by his employer. However, we were able to secure him a significant settlement which will ensure some financial stability for him and his family in the future. Also, he was able to move on and obtain a new job quickly and so he is looking forward to leaving the stress and misery he suffered with his old employer behind.
Client Review
I was absolutely delighted to help but very flattered when my client sent a kind review for my services and some beautiful flowers to thank me for my help. I was absolutely delighted to get such a good result for him. At our last meeting I told my client that he looked like a completely different man from when we had first met to discuss his employment issues. I could not be happier for him and his family.
Lincs Law Employment Solicitors Can Help You
If you are a whistleblower and would like some advice about your situation, please contact us for a free no obligation consultation with a fully qualified employment solicitor. Simply use the contact form, engage in a web chat, email contactus@lincslaw.com or call us on 01522 440512 and we’ll be happy to help. Alternatively, for more information about whistleblowing and protected disclosures, please visit our website at https://lincslaw.co.uk/services/employees/workplace-problems/protected-disclosures-whistleblowing/
Sally Hubbard
Managing Director, Specialist Employment Solicitor
Lincs Law Employment Solicitors
Tags: claims whistleblowing Detriments suffered for whistleblowing employment tribunal lincs law employment solicitors Protected Disclosures sally hubbard whistleblower whistleblower client review
