Watson v Hilary Meredith Solicitors Ltd and another UKEAT/0092/20/BA

Appeal against the ET’s decision dismissing the Appellant’s complaints of detriments for making protected disclosures and of automatically unfair dismissal. Appeal dismissed.

The Appellant made protected disclosures to the Respondents about alleged financial irregularities and gave notice of his resignation. Negotiations took place to try to reach an amicable settlement between the parties, but they were unsuccessful, and the Appellant was summarily dismissed. The Appellant brought claims in the ET of detriments for making protected disclosures and of automatically unfair dismissal; the ET, having concluded that the protected disclosures had not materially influenced the decision to dismiss, and that the Appellant was dismissed because of the way that he behaved following the protected disclosures, dismissed his claims. The Appellant appealed on a number of grounds, contending that the ET had erred in law in dismissing his protected disclosure claims, and challenging the ET's refusal to order the Respondents to disclose additional privileged documents beyond the ones that they had disclosed voluntarily.

The EAT held that it had been plainly open to the ET to find that the Appellant's actions following the making of the protected disclosures could be severed from the protected disclosures themselves; and it held that the ET had not erred in law in its decision on the scope of the waiver of privilege.

http://www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKEAT/2021/0092_20_1003.html

Published: 19/05/2021 11:08

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