Mr M I Khan v Doncaster Mosque Trust and 4 others — 2023

This was a Preliminary Hearing in Public before Employment Judge Ayre, sitting alone in Sheffield on 10 October 2023, to determine whether the claimant, an Imam and teacher employed by the First Respondent (a charitable trust), had made protected disclosures within section 43A of the Employment Rights Act 1996 on four occasions between October 2021 and July 2022. The claimant gave evidence; the respondents called no witness evidence. The disclosures concerned alleged failures by the trustees to log and account properly for cash donations made by the public, the use of approximately £35,000 raised for a building renovation, and unpaid utility bills said to involve donated funds.

The tribunal found that on each of the four occasions the claimant conveyed information (rather than mere allegations) about the respondents' record-keeping and handling of donations, and that he genuinely believed the information tended to show a failure to comply with a legal obligation, namely the trustees' obligation as a charity to keep proper accounting records and account for monies received. The judge was not persuaded the claimant believed a criminal offence was being committed. Applying the public-interest factors identified in Chesterton Global Ltd v Nurmohamed [2018] ICR 731, the judge accepted that the claimant's belief in the public interest of the disclosures was both genuine and objectively reasonable, given that the funds were donations from a relatively large number of worshippers and the First Respondent is a charity and place of worship.

The judge concluded that all four disclosures were qualifying disclosures under section 43B ERA 1996, and, having been made to those involved in running the employer, were protected disclosures under section 43C ERA 1996. The hearing did not determine detriment, dismissal, discrimination, deduction or breach-of-contract issues, and no remedy was awarded.