Claimant v Glasgow Preswick Airport Ltd — 2018

The claimant applied for interim relief under sections 128 and 129 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 after presenting a claim that he had been dismissed and that the reason or principal reason was that he had made a protected disclosure. The tribunal said it was making only a summary assessment for the interim relief hearing and not final findings of fact.

Applying the "pretty good chance of success" test from Taplin v Shippam Limited, and noting the need to give only the essential gist of its reasons, the tribunal considered several alleged disclosures. It thought the alleged disclosures about the expenses policy, the salary spine review, and on-site fuel did not appear likely on the material before it to be found protected disclosures. By contrast, it considered that the Halcion/Breedon procurement issue had a pretty good chance of being found to be a qualifying disclosure.

The tribunal then considered causation and whether the claimant had a pretty good chance of showing that the sole or principal reason for dismissal was the making of protected disclosures. It accepted that the respondent's explanation was that Mr Adams had concerns about the claimant's performance and attitude after joining the business, and it noted that Mr Adams' 6 March 2018 email to Mr Miller setting out why he wanted to replace the claimant did not mention the alleged disclosures. The tribunal said much of the evidence was disputed, could not say the respondent's witnesses were implausible, and therefore refused the application for interim relief.