02 December 2019
The Supreme Court has extended the scope of protection for whistleblowers, in a ruling that a Royal Mail employee was unfairly dismissed
Royal Mail Group v Jhuti [2019] UKSC 55 concerned media specialist Ms Jhuti who alerted her manager at Royal Mail about concerns that a colleague was infringing Ofcom’s guidance. In the four-hour meeting that followed, however, she was told her understanding of the guidance was questionable and formed the impression her job was at risk if she pursued her allegations further. She retracted her claim. Thereafter, she was told her performance at work was disappointing, and was eventually signed off work with stress and later dismissed.
The Supreme Court unanimously held that the real reason for her dismissal was that she made protected disclosures rather than her manager’s ‘invented reason’.
