Dismissal For Reporting Employer To The Information Commissioner

Dismissal For Reporting Employer To The Information Commissioner

The Appeal Tribunal this week found a dismissal to be fair where the employer told an employee NOT to report an alleged breach of the Data Protection Act to the Information Commissioners office (ICO) but the employee reported the employer anyway.

This is a case that would have many lawyers nervous at the outset. It seemed on the face of it that the employee had made a protected disclosure, and the employer punished him for it.

However, the Tribunal saw it differently. The instruction was reasonable because it was not an absolute ban on reporting, it was a ban on reporting without consent of his manager, and only while the employer investigated the possible breach for itself.

This case should give employers a little more confidence in dealing with potential reports and whistleblowing with more confidence, provided they are acting reasonably.

The full case can be read at the following link:
http://www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKEAT/2015/0041_14_0105.html

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