Mrs Philippa Gordon - Gould v Unity Schools Partnership — 2022

Mrs Philippa Gordon-Gould was employed as a SENCO at Felixstowe Academy from 1 September 2019 and dismissed at the end of her extended probationary period on 20 March 2020. She had originally indicated age discrimination and whistleblowing, but the age discrimination claim was withdrawn. The tribunal identified the whistleblowing case as a series of alleged protected disclosures and alleged detriments, together with a protected disclosure dismissal claim under s.103A ERA 1996.

The tribunal applied the statutory test in s.43B ERA 1996 and the authorities it cited, including Cavendish Munro, Kilraine, Korashi, and Chesterton Global. It held that many of the claimant's alleged disclosures were ordinary staffing and management discussions rather than disclosures of information with sufficient factual content and specificity. For the written emails and the 5 February 2020 letter, the tribunal accepted that some information had been communicated, but it found the claimant did not have a reasonable belief that the respondent was failing to comply with a legal obligation or that any child's health and safety was endangered.

On causation, the tribunal found the letter of expectation after the Child E email, the disciplinary investigation and first written warning after the Child A meeting, the probation extension, the later investigations, and the dismissal were all responses to the claimant's conduct, performance, and complaints from parents and staff, not to any protected disclosures. It relied on the approach in Fecitt, Kong, and Kuzel in concluding that, even if disclosures had been made, they did not materially influence the respondent's actions and were not the reason, or principal reason, for dismissal. All claims were therefore dismissed and no remedy was awarded.