No Breach Of Privacy When Employee Dismissed Using Material Found On His Mobile Phone

The Claimant, Mr Garamukanwa, was employed by Solent NHS Trust as a clinical manager. He was involved in a personal relationship with a female colleague which ended. Shortly afterwards, he emailed another colleague, expressing concern that she had formed a personal relationship with a junior female staff member. They both complained to a manager who spoke to Mr Garamukanwa about his behaviour. A campaign of harassment and stalking against the two women then took place for around 10 months. This included a number of anonymous, malicious emails and messages that were sent to employees of the Trust and to the women personally, making various allegations against them. Property belonging to both of them was also damaged.

A complaint was made to the police who informed the Trust that they were investigating the claims and there were serious concerns regarding the conduct of the Claimant. The Claimant was suspended and during the course of the police's investigations, the police found photographs of one of the women's home addresses on the Claimant's phone and a sheet of paper containing details of the email accounts from which anonymous messages had been sent. The police passed this information onto the Trust, which was carrying out its own internal investigation. The person carrying out the investigation concluded that there was sufficient evidence to link the Claimant to at least some of the anonymous emails. At the subsequent disciplinary hearing, the Claimant voluntarily provided the panel with further evidence on his behalf, including personal emails and WhatsApp correspondence between himself and the complainant. Taking the personal iPhone material into account, the Trust dismissed the Claimant for gross misconduct.

The Claimant brought unfair dismissal proceedings in which he alleged that the Human Rights Act and the European Convention on Human Rights were breached by the Trust as matters relating to his private life were examined and used to justify his dismissal. The Claimant contended that he had a reasonable expectation that this material would remain private. The Claimant took his case to the...