Whistleblowing: Is An Employee Protected As A Whistleblower If The Disclosure Is Made Partly Out Of Self-Interest?

An employee who makes a disclosure partly out of self-interest may be protected as a whistleblower if the employee also reasonably believes the disclosure to be made in the public interest.

THE FACTS

Miss Okwu was employed by Rise Community Action, a small charity providing support for individuals affected by domestic violence, female genital mutilation and HIV. Having raised a number of issues about Miss Okwu's employment, Rise extended her three month probationary period for a further three months. A few days later, Ms Okwu wrote to Rise complaining about the lack of pension, of a written statement of terms and of internet access. She also complained that Rise was in breach of data protection legislation because she had to use a shared mobile phone for dealing with clients and there was a lack of secure file storage when she was dealing with sensitive and confidential personal information.

Rise decided to dismiss Miss Okwu. It told her that the reason for her dismissal was her poor performance, unsatisfactory conduct, and a failure to communicate. It said that the decision was "compounded" by the letter of complaint which, it said, demonstrated her contempt for the charity.

Miss Okwu claimed that she had been unfairly dismissed for whistleblowing. The employment tribunal dismissed her claim. It found that the matters she raised were not in the public interest but concerned her own contractual position: even matters relating to alleged breaches of data protection legislation were, it found, raised as relevant to her performance issues. The tribunal also found that the information she had provided lacked sufficient detail to amount to a qualifying disclosure. In any event, the tribunal found that Ms Okwu had not been dismissed for...