For the v In person Mr R Khalivov, solicitor — 2025

This was an application for interim relief under s.128 Employment Rights Act 1996, brought on the basis that the reason or principal reason for dismissal was that the Claimant made protected disclosures. The tribunal found that the effective date of termination was 3 April 2025, when the Respondent sent an email summarily dismissing him, so the application presented on 10 April 2025 was in time. The earlier WhatsApp exchange of 20 March 2025 was treated as having been superseded by the later summary dismissal.

Applying the interim relief test, the tribunal adopted the summary assessment required by Taplin, Sarfraz and Chacko and considered whether the Claimant had a pretty good chance of succeeding at the full hearing. It relied on a partial transcript of a meeting on 22 February 2025 and a letter from the Claimant dated 3 April 2025. Those materials were found likely to contain disclosures with sufficient factual content about matters including use of workers on visit visas, unlicensed practice, record-keeping for doctors, cash-in-hand payments, pension compliance, and use of a personal account for business payments.

The tribunal considered it likely that those disclosures were made in the public interest and that the Respondent dismissed the Claimant because he had made them, rather than for the misconduct allegations first raised in the 3 April 2025 dismissal email. It noted there was no evidence before it to support those allegations and that the timing of the dismissal followed shortly after the Claimant’s 3 April 2025 email. On that broad assessment, the application for interim relief succeeded.

As a remedy, the tribunal ordered continuation of the Claimant’s contract of employment under s.130 ERA 1996. It recorded that the Respondent was not prepared to reinstate or re-engage him. The parties agreed that the Claimant’s monthly pay was £2,676 gross and £2,180.36 net, and that he had not been paid for April and May 2025. The tribunal ordered payment of £4,360.72 net for those two months within 14 days, and said he was entitled to ongoing monthly net pay of £2,180.36 from June 2025 onwards.