Mr S Graham v Represented by:15 Ms A Bowman Solicitor C Hanlon All Trades Ltd — 2021

Mr S Graham worked as a tiler for C Hanlon All Trades Ltd from 1 May 2019 until his dismissal on 11 December 2020. On 7 December 2020 he attended a job in Perth involving porcelain tiles on an unskimmed Gyproc wall. He checked the Tile Association guidance, contacted the tile manufacturer, and told Mr William Burley that the tiles were too heavy, that the work would be unsafe if the tiles fell, and that the job was "illegal".

The tribunal found that the claimant did make a disclosure of information to Mr Burley, but it was not a protected disclosure. The Tile Association document was a trade guide offering general guidance and maximum recommended weights, not a legal obligation, and the tribunal held that the claimant could not reasonably believe otherwise. It also held that his belief that the resident's health and safety was likely to be endangered was not reasonable, because the Perth work was a like-for-like replacement and the previous tiles had been on the wall for four years.

Even if the disclosure had been protected, the tribunal found it was not the reason for dismissal. Mr Burley told Mr Ross only that the claimant had refused the Perth job. The tribunal found that the decision to dismiss was based on the claimant's previous refusals to carry out work and that he was regarded as unreliable, with the Perth refusal tipping the balance. The whistleblowing dismissal claim was therefore dismissed.

The right-to-be-accompanied claim was also dismissed. The tribunal found that the meeting arranged by Mr Cooper was to tell the claimant that his employment had already been terminated, not a disciplinary hearing, and there was no refusal by the respondent to permit accompaniment at a disciplinary hearing. The respondent accepted that notice pay and wages were due, and the tribunal ordered £448.24 net for notice and £1,129.61 net for wages including lying time.