Kathleen Priestley v Tex Tech Ltd PUBLIC PRELIMINARY HEARING — 2022

At a public preliminary hearing on 9 June 2022 before Employment Judge Shepherd, the respondent applied to strike out, or alternatively to obtain a deposit order in relation to, the claimant's protected-disclosure dismissal and detriment allegations. The claimant had raised a grievance on 3 May 2021, repeated it in the grievance meeting on 25 May 2021 and in the appeal meeting on 6 July 2021.

The alleged disclosure concerned what the claimant said was misuse of the furlough scheme, namely that the respondent had claimed furlough payments for a period when she was working. The respondent argued that this was not a qualifying protected disclosure because it did not fall within section 43B(1) of the Employment Rights Act 1996 and was only about the claimant's personal circumstances rather than a matter in the public interest.

The tribunal referred to Cavendish Munro Professional Risks Management Limited v Gelgud, Williams v Michelle Brown and Chesterton Global v Nurmohadmed. Taking the claimant's case at its highest and making no substantive findings of fact, it held that there was an arguable case that the disclosure could amount to information tending to show a criminal offence or a failure to comply with a legal obligation, and that it could have been made in the public interest because it related to misuse of public funds and to other employees.

The tribunal was not satisfied that the claims had no or little reasonable prospect of success, so the applications to strike out the protected-disclosure dismissal and detriment claims, and the alternative deposit application, were refused. The case was listed for a four-day final hearing beginning 18 July 2022.