Dismissing a worker because they've blown the whistle can
lead to a finding of automatic unfair dismissal. But what if the
person who made the decision to dismiss was misled by the
employee's line manager as to the true facts? Will this still
amount to automatic unfair dismissal?
Last year, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) ruled that the
employer should be liable nevertheless and that the line
manager's reasoning and motivation should be taken into account
and attributed to the employer even though the reasoning was
misleading. This was not good news for employers since it
clearly bolstered an employee's chances of overcoming the
tricky issue of causation in proving a whistleblowing
dismissal. However, employers will be relieved to know that
the Court of Appeal has disagreed, and has confirmed that a
dismissal cannot be for reason of whistleblowing if the decision
maker was ignorant of the employee's protected disclosure.
