Mr S Potts v Urb-it UK Ltd — 2024

Mr Potts was employed by Urb-it UK Ltd from 14 January 2021 until his dismissal on 17 November 2022 as Country Manager UK. The tribunal accepted his evidence that he was concerned about the storage and charging of lithium batteries at the respondent’s hubs, particularly Centaur Street, where he said the layout created a fire risk for staff and the public. It found he raised those concerns on multiple occasions, including 15 September, 28 September, 7 October, 20 October, 26 October and 31 October 2022, and that the respondent had discussed fire safety and later accepted that health and safety had been discussed.

The tribunal held that Mr Potts made protected disclosures in the public interest and that it was reasonable for him to believe that the battery charging arrangements could endanger health and safety. It preferred his account to the respondent’s bare denial, noting the lack of contemporaneous questioning in the grievance process, the absence of documentary evidence of performance concerns, and the unexplained references to extradition and prison. It concluded that he resigned because his disclosures were not properly taken seriously and that the respondent therefore automatically constructively dismissed him because he had whistleblown. The tribunal said the same was true of the s.100 health and safety claim.

The tribunal did not reach a conclusion on whether the statements about race and sex discrimination constituted protected disclosures, because that point was not finally decided. It dismissed the unlawful deduction from wages claim because the expenses claim of £794.40 was not supported by evidence. No remedy was fixed in this judgment; the tribunal said a separate remedy hearing would be listed, and the parties’ competing positions on notice pay and the respondent’s suggested £10,000 credit were left for that hearing.