In person For the v Ms K Reece – Employment Advisor — 2022

At the open preliminary hearing on 3 February 2022, Employment Judge Wright amended the respondent name to Jamma Umoja (Residential Services) Ltd and noted that the claimant did not pursue a claim against Mr Crosbie. The claimant also accepted that she did not have qualifying service to bring an unfair dismissal complaint under ERA 1996 sections 94-98.

The breach of contract claim failed because the tribunal found the respondent's handbook was non-contractual and its policies were not binding. The alleged failure to deal with the claimant's grievance was rejected because the grievance had in fact been addressed and the claimant was told the outcome by letter on 14 September 2020. The tribunal also held there was no contractual right to a hearing before dismissal.

The whistleblowing claim failed because the claimant's account of the 29 July 2020 supervision meeting did not amount to a protected disclosure. Applying Chandhok v Tirkey and Kilraine v London Borough of Wandsworth, the tribunal found there was no disclosure of information tending to show that colleague CN had failed, was failing, or was likely to fail to comply with a legal obligation, and no reasonable belief that the matter was in the public interest. The tribunal characterised the matter as a private disagreement between colleagues, so the claimed detriments said to flow from it, including the probation review meeting and dismissal, could not succeed. All claims were dismissed.