Georgia* had been working in luxury retail for less than a year when she witnessed her manager overcharging a customer and pocketing the money.
Georgia raised her concerns using the company’s internal whistleblowing channel hoping to get the issues addressed and she specifically asked for her identity to be kept hidden. However, she was then invited to a meeting with HR which also included the manager she’d named when she raised her concerns. Fully exposed and her anonymity blown, Georgia was asked to talk through the full content of her whistleblowing report. The following day, Georgia was dismissed with immediate effect.
Georgia was devasted to be forced out of a job she loved and immediately appealed her dismissal on the grounds that it was retaliation for whistleblowing. The appeal was ignored and she registered for Early Conciliation with Acas: a structured process to settle a dispute without having to go to an Employment Tribunal. While her employer had initially seemed open to negotiating a settlement agreement, communication soon dried up. Georgia was nearing the end of the early conciliation period and was concerned the time limit for bringing a claim in the Employment Tribunal was fast approaching.
At this point, Georgia called Protect for advice.
In our initial call, Georgia explained what she had gone through and the steps she had taken following her dismissal. We advised her that in addition to the whistleblowing automatic unfair dismissal claim she had brought against her employer, she could also bring whistleblowing detriment claims against the individuals who had treated her negatively.
Following our advice, Georgia brought additional whistleblowing detriment claims against two individuals at the company: the manager who had made the decision to dismiss her and the HR professional who had breached her confidentiality. She used our template to draw up a Schedule of Loss to calculate a fair negotiating position and she eventually signed a settlement with her employer for a substantial five-figure sum.
*Name has been changed at request of individual.