The facts
To be protected by the whistleblowing legislation, the worker
must have made a "qualifying disclosure". This is any
disclosure of information which, in the reasonable belief of the
worker making the disclosure, is made in the public interest and
tends to show one or more of a list of acts of wrongdoing,
including that a person has failed, is failing or is likely to fail
to comply with any legal obligation to which he is subject.
Mr Ibrahim was an interpreter in a private hospital. He asked
his manager to investigate rumours circulating among patients and
their families that he was responsible for breaches of patient
confidentiality. He sent an email saying that he wanted to
"clear his name", and that a colleague had been
"slandering me to my colleagues". After investigation,
his complaint was rejected. He was later dismissed, and claimed
(among other things) that his complaint had been a whistleblowing
allegation, and that he had been dismissed for having
