in person v Mr R Taylor (Solicitor) — 2021

The tribunal determined as a preliminary issue that Mr Egan was a worker and not an employee within the meaning of section 230(3) of the Employment Rights Act 1996. The claim form and grounds of complaint showed that the only detriment relied on for whistleblowing purposes was said to be unfair dismissal for raising health and safety concerns.

The tribunal noted that, under section 47B(2), where the detriment amounts to a dismissal within Part X of the Employment Rights Act 1996 it is treated as a complaint under section 103A, namely unfair dismissal for making a protected disclosure. It then held that section 94 gives only employees a right to bring an unfair dismissal complaint, so as a worker the claimant could not pursue that complaint and the tribunal had no jurisdiction to hear it.

The claimant's application at the hearing, made without notice, to amend the claim to add a detriment allegation that he was ignored and shunned after a conversation on 8 April 2020 was refused. Because the tribunal could not accept the detriment relied on in the original claim form, it found that the sole whistleblowing complaint had no reasonable prospects of success and struck it out under Rule 37(1)(a) after giving the claimant an opportunity to make representations under Rule 37(2).