Mrs J Woods v Cracker Jacks Day Nursery Limited and 1 other — 2020

Mrs Woods worked as a nursery practitioner for Cracker Jacks Day Nursery Limited and was dismissed with immediate effect on 10 July 2017. Her case originally included unfair dismissal and unlawful deduction from wages against the first respondent, and it was later amended to add a detriment claim against Mrs F Lewis based on alleged protected disclosures. By the time of the final hearing the first respondent had been dissolved and no claim was advanced against it, so those claims were dismissed.

The tribunal accepted that Mrs Woods had raised concerns about children being signed in and out, drinking water, and activities in the nursery room. It found, however, that the activities point was not pleaded or evidenced as a disclosure at all. On the water issue, the tribunal accepted that children were given water during the day and found that this was a professional disagreement about the right amount of water, not a disclosure made with a reasonable belief that health and safety was being endangered or that a legal obligation was being breached.

On the signing in and out issue, the tribunal found that Mrs Woods' evidence before it was materially different from the way the matter had been described in the earlier amendment proceedings. It found that what she said at the hearing amounted only to a reminder that 'we all need to remember to sign the children in and out', which was not a disclosure of information for the purposes of section 43B ERA 1996 and did not tend to show breach of a legal obligation or danger to health and safety. The tribunal therefore held that none of the matters relied on were protected disclosures.

Because there were no protected disclosures, the claim of detriment on the ground of whistleblowing failed. The tribunal noted that, if it had found protected disclosures, it would likely have found that they caused the dismissal, but that issue did not arise. No remedy was awarded or assessed.