Mrs R Kealy v Westfield Community Development Association — 2022

Mrs R Kealy worked for Westfield Community Development Association as Early Years Co-ordinator from 1 October 2016 and resigned on 4 December 2019. The tribunal found that the nursery had funding and operational difficulties, including Ofsted's downgrade in June 2019 and a council audit showing EYPP and DAF amounts not fully accounted for. It accepted that Mrs Kealy sent a report to trustees about the unspent funds, but preferred the evidence of Mr Roberts and Ms Hutchings that she had authority to spend the funding and that Mr Roberts did not tell her to produce a false report.

On the whistleblowing issues, the tribunal accepted some of the factual complaints about the heating failure in November 2019, including that the heating broke down on 12 November and was potentially harmful. It also accepted that Mrs Kealy made reports to Ofsted and others, but found her evidence unreliable on key points and concluded that she did not have a reasonable belief in the truth of the totality of the disclosures, particularly where she told Ofsted that nothing was being done about the heating. It therefore held that there were no qualifying protected disclosures, so the section 47B detriment claims failed and the section 103A automatic unfair dismissal claim also failed.

The tribunal rejected the constructive dismissal case. It found that Mr Roberts acted with reasonable and proper cause in dealing with the funding dispute, the heating problems and the later grievance about Mr Bell, and it did not accept that the implied term of trust and confidence had been breached. It accepted that Mr Roberts asked Mrs Kealy on 19 November 2019 to identify parents who had complained, that he queried staffing levels, and that he investigated the written grievance she raised on 2 December 2019, including suspending Mr Bell. The section 100 and section 104 dismissal claims, and the section 44 detriment claim, were all dismissed. No compensation was awarded.