Claimant v Hierarchy Business Solutions Ltd — 2022

Miss L Millar was employed by Hierarchy Business Solutions Ltd as a Senior Support Worker from 5 October 2020 until her summary dismissal on 26 August 2021. The tribunal found that she told her line manager, Ms Fleming, about conduct by one of the respondent's directors, Mrs Wallah, towards a vulnerable young person known as B. That disclosure was found to amount to a protected disclosure within section 43B(1)(d) ERA 1996 because it concerned information tending to show that B's health and safety had been, or was likely to be, damaged.

The tribunal rejected the respondent's case that the dismissal was for gross misconduct arising from GDPR or confidentiality breaches. It found that the disciplinary process was not followed, that the claimant was suspended without proper explanation, that no meaningful investigatory process was carried out, that she was not told the allegations in advance, and that the hearing had effectively been decided before it took place. The tribunal also found that the respondent had looked for reasons in the claimant's emails to justify dismissal, had not genuinely treated the email issue as the real reason, and that the real reason for dismissal was that she had made the protected disclosure and would not let the matter rest until action was taken to protect B.

On remedy, the tribunal accepted that the claimant had turned down a job offer and had not looked for work in other sectors, so compensation was limited for failure to mitigate loss. It accepted that she had been unwell and no longer wanted to work in social care, but concluded that an award of three months' pay was just and equitable. Using average monthly earnings of £1,854 based on £10.30 per hour and average hours worked, the tribunal awarded a compensatory award of £5,562. It rejected any further reduction for contributory conduct and recorded that the award was subject to recoupment.