Mr R Jonker v QBE Management Services (UK) Limited — 2022

The claimant was employed as a claims adjuster from 13 May 2019 until his summary dismissal on 18 December 2020. He brought a single claim of automatic unfair dismissal under section 103A of the Employment Rights Act 1996, relying on alleged protected disclosures made on 23 April 2020, 4 May 2020, 14 August 2020, 8 September 2020 and 11 September 2020 about an alleged sexual assault by colleague X on colleague W on 4 October 2019.

The tribunal accepted that disclosures of information were made, but found that the claimant did not have a reasonable belief that the information tended to show a criminal offence had been committed or that anyone's health or safety had been endangered. It also found that he did not have a reasonable belief that the disclosure was made in the public interest. Applying the authorities it cited, including Martin v London Borough of Southwark, Babula v Waltham Forest College and Darnton v University of Surrey, the tribunal concluded that the claimant's account was false and that he knew, or ought to have known, that the factual basis for his beliefs was untrue.

The tribunal rejected the claimant's account of the alleged incident on 4 October 2019. It found that, from his desk, he could not have observed whether W and X went into the toilets, that W denied any such incident and denied QC'ing his work in her final week, and that her evidence was supported by her manager and by the claimant's QC records. It also found that the claimant's related allegations about X's conduct were unsupported, internally inconsistent and speculative, and that his account of the earlier hotel-lift incident on 21 June 2019 was fabricated.

Because no protected disclosure was made, the tribunal held that the claimant had failed to show that his dismissal was because of protected disclosures. The claim was dismissed. The judgment also records that the claimant forfeited the £500 deposit he had paid under the earlier deposit order.