Health and Safety – Forklift Truck Driver Sacked for Whistleblowing

Workplace whistleblowers operate very much in the public interest but, all too often, they are punished rather than praised for their activities. The point was made by the case of a veteran forklift truck driver who was summarily dismissed after repeatedly alerting his employer to a serious…

Jan 26, 2022

After witnessing an incident in which a pallet weighing up to 500 kg fell from a height of nine metres, the driver three times expressed concern to his employer that pallets were being overloaded. On the final occasion, he used his mobile phone to take photos of one such pallet and showed them to his supervisor.

He was first suspended and then dismissed on grounds that he had breached a strict company policy that banned employees from making mobile phone calls or sending texts on the shop floor. He launched Employment Tribunal (ET) proceedings on the basis that he had been subjected to detriment for making protected disclosures – whistleblowing – and that his dismissal was therefore automatically unfair.

Upholding his complaint, the ET found that his whistleblowing was the real and principal reason for his dismissal. Acting in the public interest, he reasonably believed that the information he provided to the employer revealed a health and safety risk. Having taken his mobile phone briefly from his locker in order to take the photos, he had neither spoken to anyone on the device nor sent a text. By doing so, he used reasonable means to protect himself and fellow workers.

The ET also found that his dismissal amounted to a breach of contract and that the employer had failed in its obligation to pay him whilst he was suspended. If not agreed, the amount of his compensation would be assessed at a further hearing.

Inadequate Workplace Toilet Triggers Direct Sex Discrimination Finding

As those who follow the news will know, public and workplace toilet facilities are the focus of a national debate concerning gender. In an employment case on point, a female office clerk who had to share a toilet with male colleagues succeeded in a direct sex discrimination claim. The woman worked for a local authority in a building fitted with both male and female toilets. She used the female toilet when she could, but accessing it was problematic in that it was in part of the building used by…

Redundant Automotive Industry Worker Succeeds in Unfair Dismissal Claim

A redundancy process may be genuine and necessary, yet procedurally unfair. An Employment Tribunal (ET) made that point in the case of an automotive industry worker who would have kept his job had a selection criterion not been carelessly and mistakenly applied. Amidst a round of redundancies necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the vehicle handling operative was placed in a pool of eight employees, five of whom would lose their jobs. Against his employer’s selection criteria, he was assessed…

Type 1 Diabetes Sufferer Wins Direct Disability Discrimination Claim

When employees disclose that they are suffering from a disability, it is an important moment that should always put employers on their mettle. The point was powerfully made by the case of a business development manager who was dismissed within days of his employer learning that he had been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. After the man launched proceedings, an Employment Tribunal (ET) found that his dismissal was significantly influenced by the employer’s knowledge of his disability. He had been…