5 February 2010
Following our recent e-shot on “Public interest disclosure and tribunal claims” (which considered the new powers to be given to Tribunals to forward claims containing whistleblowing allegations to relevant regulators) this area is in the spotlight once again.
Dr Ramon Niekrash is a consultant urologist at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Woolwich, London. He wrote a number of letters to the hospital’s senior management expressing concerns about the impact of cost-cutting measures, including the closure of a specialist ward and cuts in specialist staffing levels, on patient care. The hospital’s management regarded him as “vexatious” and “awkward” and suspended him from work for ten weeks.
Dr. Niekrash brought a Tribunal claim against his employer claiming that he had suffered a detriment as a consequence of the public interest disclosures that he had made. The Tribunal, this week, decided in his favour and that he was entitled to claim damages against his employer. These are likely to be substantial.
This case emphasises once again the necessity for employers to have a clear policy on whistleblowing. They need to be alive to the fact that any concerns raised that deal with issues that may be in the public interest, e.g. health and safety, can amount to “protected disclosures”, whether made expressly as such or not. Someone who makes such disclosures and suffers a detriment because of them will have the basis for a claim. These can be very difficult issues to deal with, especially if the allegations are felt to be confidential. However, even if the allegation is not true, the whistleblower is still protected unless there is no basis for the disclosure at all or it is made in bad faith. Assessing these cases can be complex and require detailed analysis but the stakes can be high.
Hill Dickinson has a wealth of experience in dealing with the full
range of employment and pensions issues. If you have any queries
relating to the above, or any other legal matter, please do not
hesitate to contact us
for advice.
