- IN PERSON FOR THE v Mr M. Islam-Choudhury — 2024

This was an interim relief hearing, not a final liability hearing. The claimant had been dismissed on 14 May 2024, with the effective date of termination on 15 May 2024, and applied on the basis that he had made protected disclosures and was therefore likely to succeed in an automatic unfair dismissal claim under s103A ERA 1996. The tribunal reminded itself that the s129 ERA 1996 test required more than a balance of probabilities and asked whether there was a good chance of success on the material issues.

The tribunal accepted that it was likely that at least one of the matters relied on by the claimant, and probably more, disclosed information tending to show a breach of legal obligations under the Equality Act 2010. However, it was not satisfied that it was likely the claimant would establish the public interest element. The judge held that the respondent had a genuine issue on whether the complaints were made in the public interest or instead related to disputes personal to the claimant, noting that the allegations concerned his own treatment by the respondents and did not obviously affect a wider cohort.

On the reason for dismissal, the tribunal also found that it could not say at this stage that it was likely the claimant would prove the disclosures were the reason or principal reason for dismissal. The claimant relied on timing, the handling of the redundancy process, and an asserted pre-determined decision, while the respondent pointed to contemporaneous evidence that the claimant’s role had been under discussion before the relied-on disclosures and that the redundancy process was supported by documentary material. Because the outcome depended on disputed questions of fact and inference, the tribunal was not persuaded that the higher threshold for interim relief had been met.

The application for interim relief was therefore dismissed. No compensation or other monetary award was made in this judgment. The tribunal noted that another claim, 1403647/23, was listed for a further case management hearing on 30 July 2024.