Protected disclosures

Claims Examples of Employment Practice

Protected disclosures

A principal consultant was allegedly dismissed from his position on the grounds that he made a series of revelations about safety issues, including site safety, the manner in which investigations were conducted and misgivings about the ability of the safety manager. He sued, alleging that these were “protected disclosures” and as such he should have been protected under the Employment Rights Act. He said the dismissal deprived him of his livelihood and profession as there was only a limited number of companies he could work for. Moreover, as he was 57 years of age, it was too late to retrain for another career. Although they had what they believed to be a robust case, the employer’s defence costs and the award against them exceeded £200,000.