Welcome to our latest Coffee Break in which we look at the latest legal and practical developments impacting employers.
Appeal on whether a dismissal was for a protected disclosure or the manner in which it was made
The Court of Appeal is today (26 May) hearing an appeal from the Employment Tribunal Appeal (EAT) which considered the application of the Supreme Court decision in Royal Mail Group v Jhuti (which qualifies the general rule that it is the reason of the decision-maker which is relevant in determining the reason for dismissal in particular circumstances where there is an "invented reason" for dismissal) and what in this case was the principal reason for dismissal – was it the protected disclosure or the conduct of the employee that accompanied it, or were the two inseparable?
Here the Head of Financial Audit at the respondent bank (Ms K) was dismissed after having raised protected disclosures with the Head of Legal regarding a legal agreement relating to one of the bank's new financial products. The Head of Legal had subsequently raised the matter with the senior management team, including her concerns that Ms K had questioned her professional integrity. Against the backdrop of previous concerns regarding the employee's style of interaction, the senior management team concluded that the continued employment of the employee was no longer tenable.
The EAT agreed with the Employment Tribunal (ET) that the principal reason for the employee's dismissal was not the...
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