Breaking employer/employee confidence

[Scottyboy]

Good afternoon,

so recently after a few issues I was dismissed from my position of employment, everything said in the disciplinary meetings etc was confidential.

2 weeks have passed and tomorrow I start a new job, a very stressful 2 weeks due to having no job or income, it put great stress on my life and family.

yesterday my former managing director decided he would ring my father, currently suffering with bowel cancer, and give him the full run down of everything that happened. Now I know I should have been the one to tell my father, however I was waiting until he has his major surgery at the end of February.

surely my former MD ringing my father is wrong, it has to be, surely that breaks any confidentiality over the whole issue?

hoping someone can help as this has caused a serious split in my family, and put further strain on my mental health, which has already been tested during this whole thing.

thanks in advance.

[ULA]

So to hear about your situation and the ill health of your father.

Did the MD know your father?
How did the MD get your father's contact details?

[Scottyboy]

Hi there,

thank you for your reply, and kind words.

yes my father is a former employee of the company, he retired 6 years ago and has nothing to do with the situation, which only happened in the last 10 months.

my former MD has my fathers mobile number from when he worked there.

[PallasAthena]

Sounds like a serious Data Protection/GDPR breach. Personal information about you was deliberately disclosed by the company to someone outside the company with no legal justification.

Let's see what advice the experts here give, but I'd think you have grounds for both a complaint to the ICO and a court claim for the distress it has caused you.

" Now I know I should have been the one to tell my father, however I was waiting until he has his major surgery at the end of February." You may feel that as a private matter within the family you felt it right to tell your father but you are under no legal obligation to.

[ULA]

Thank you for the further information and if the relationship your MD has with your father was 6 years ago as an employee I would certainly agree with PallasAthena and you should make a complaint to the ICO and see what they say. Although I would do that first before thinking about a court claim.

[Scottyboy]

Hi again,

ok perfect, thank you. I will get in touch with the ICO first and see what they say. Silly question but I’ve never heard of the ICO, who are they exactly? I’ll google them anyway and hopefully find them and make contact.

thank you again,

Scott mulligan

[PallasAthena]

ICO = Information Commissioners Office

[Scottyboy]

Thank you very much, I’ve found them, I will be making contact with them today to see what they say. Thank you so much again, I’ll update here with what they say, but I really appreciate the advice and guidance.

[Scottyboy]

It seems it is deemed acceptable for my former MD to contact my father…..below is the reply from ICO

I would advise that an organisation can share information where it is relevant and necessary. If you have concerns that information about you was inappropriately shared, we advise that you raise this with them. There is guidance on raising a concern here: https://ico.org.uk/for-the-public/ho...ion-complaint/

[PallasAthena]

I don't read that as saying it's "acceptable for my former MD to contact my father", more that they are declining to get involved. "An organisation can share information where it is relevant and necessary" is just a statement of the law, it isn't expressing an opinion on whether what the MD did was 'relevant and necessary'.

ICO are saying you have to start by complaining to the organisation. That's ICO's usual position.

So make a complaint to the company. Have a look at their website. They should have a Privacy policy and somewhere in their it ought to say who their data protection officer is. Complain to that person, in writing, rather than direct to the MD.

[Scottyboy]

Ah right ok, apologies, I just read it as it was stated rather than reading between the lines. I have been able to get a template of the complaint from the ICO site, I will fill in my parts and send it off. Although I have left the company I’m just wary of this causing more undue problems however the MD ringing my father has caused serious stress to both myself and my father at a very difficult time.

thank you again.

[ULA]

The key is about sharing information "where it is relevant and necessary". I would suggest that neither of these apply in regard to the MD contacting your father in the way that he did and divulging information on your dismissal from the company. You may want to point this out in your complaint.

[Scottyboy]

Perfect, I will do, also I bumped into a former work colleague who still works for my former company last night, he knew all details of what happened and also of personal issues I had divulged to the HR officer about my home life, he knew everything, so it seems my situation etc has been put out for gossip, now maybe I’m just angry but surely that is out of order on 2 counts now? The whole issue has caused a divide in my marriage and I in turn had to move out for a couple of weeks, this i told the HR officer in the disciplinary hearings because she asked how things were. But it’s clear this has not been kept confidential and is just another source of stress on top of everything else.

[wales01man]

With respect what outcome do you need from this is it going to have to go legal ?

[Scottyboy]

To be honest I don’t know, initially just came here to see what the legal standpoint was around them breaking confidentiality. I probably won’t be after a legal battle, just wanted to know if all this was wrong on the company’s part.