Mr Manley (Counsel) FOR THE v Respondent — 2019

Dr A Davies worked as a dentist at Crescent Dental Ltd from 22 July 2016 until her contract ended on 22 June 2017. The tribunal dismissed the sex discrimination claim because it found there was insufficient evidence that Dr Waters knew the claimant was pregnant, so pregnancy could not have been an operative cause of the termination. The claimant's maternity discrimination, race discrimination, breach of contract and unlawful deduction of wages claims were recorded as dismissed upon withdrawal.

The tribunal accepted that on 5 April 2017 the claimant complained that Nurse A had not sterilised a dental mirror using the autoclave as instructed. It held that this was a qualifying disclosure and a protected disclosure because it concerned the proper sterilisation of equipment in a dental practice, where the protocols were directed at preventing cross-contamination and health and safety concerns. The tribunal also found that the claimant reasonably believed the disclosure was in the public interest.

On the whistleblowing claim, the tribunal held that ending the claimant's contract on 22 June 2017 was a detriment and that there was sufficient connection between the disclosure and the decision to terminate. It rejected the respondent's case that termination was solely for record-keeping reasons, found that workplace relationships, discrimination complaints and the board-game incident formed part of the background, and concluded that the respondent had not shown the disclosure played no part. A further hearing was directed to determine remedy.