Appeal by claimants against findings in the ET that their participation in a collective grievance was not a protected act.

The claimants had been dismissed following an internal investigation and grievance process arising from allegations of statements made at a meeting of the BME network. In the subsequent investigations the claimants refused to co-operate and were dismissed for conduct in 2017. The ET concluded that the collective grievance was not a protected act and the claimants had been fairly dismissed so the claimants appealed.

Although in this appeal HHJ Auerbach finds that part of the investigation was in bad faith, that procedural irregularity did not undermine the overall findings (per McDonell) and so the appeals were dismissed.