In person For the v Mr G Mansfield, one of Her Majesty’s counsel Ms C Davies, junior counsel — 2021

Mr Ukwu was employed by ICG FMC Ltd as Assistant Company Secretary on a fixed-term contract from 6 January 2020 to 5 January 2021. His claim form referred to unfair dismissal for whistleblowing, whistleblowing detriment and age discrimination, but the tribunal recorded that only the unfair dismissal claim founded on alleged protected disclosures remained in play because the other claims were rejected for want of an Early Conciliation Certificate. The hearing was for interim relief only, heard remotely, and the tribunal did not take oral evidence.

The tribunal accepted, on a summary basis, that the claimant had a pretty good chance of showing that he made protected disclosures to his former employer Afren in March 2014. It found that the memorandum relied on by the claimant appeared capable of amounting to protected disclosures concerning breach of legal obligation and criminal offence, and that he had a pretty good chance of satisfying the public interest and reasonable-belief requirements.

The application failed because the claimant did not show a pretty good chance that the decision-maker, Mr Lewis, knew about those earlier disclosures or that the non-renewal of the fixed-term contract was because of them. The judge found there was no demonstrated mechanism by which the 2020 HR email links or public-domain material reached Mr Lewis, and treated the claimant’s submission that the respondent must have waited until the end of the contract to avoid suspicion as insufficient at the interim stage. Applying the Taplin line of authority, the tribunal held that the high threshold for interim relief was not met and dismissed the application.