Mr. Adrian Finn v Community Inclusive Trust — 2021

Mr Adrian Finn was employed by Community Inclusive Trust from 8 May 2017 as COO, later also CFO, on a fixed-term contract with one week's notice. The tribunal accepted that Peter Bell, the CEO, and other witnesses had genuine concerns about the claimant's performance, communication, and relationships with staff, and it preferred the respondent's evidence on credibility and reliability. It found that the dismissal arose from those capability concerns, not from any protected disclosure.

The claimant relied on three alleged protected disclosures: a June or July 2018 complaint about JW's remuneration through a service company, an October 2018 safeguarding/DBS concern, and a 19 September 2018 email about the Isaac Newton playground invoice and the absence of a tender document. The tribunal found that the first two matters were not disclosed by the claimant to Mr Bell as alleged, and that the third email was no more than a query about how to sign the invoice off. It further found that the claimant already knew the playground spend exceeded £50,000 and had arranged for the supplier invoice to be split into £49,000 and £4,878 to avoid Board approval.

On that basis the automatic unfair dismissal claim under s.103A ERA 1996 failed. The tribunal also went on to find that, even if protected disclosures had been made, there was no evidence that they were the reason or principal reason for dismissal; the respondent acted on performance concerns and advice from Croner, and the Board supported the proposed settlement-or-dismissal route. The wrongful dismissal claim failed because there was no agreement to increase notice from one week to three months. The breach of contract claim for outstanding expenses also failed because the tribunal was not satisfied that any unpaid expenses had been properly submitted or proved.