Grounds for appeal Breach of Confidentiality Act

[shirl66]

Employment Tribunal Advise needed

I have recently just lost an employment tribunal case for Constructive Dismissal, of which was extremely difficult to prove, more so due to the fact i could not get legal representation or legal aid and had to represent myself.


However on the last day of the hearing the Respondent produced a copy of the Anonymous Whistleblowing Concerns I raised to the CQC via their website concerning numerous safegaurding issues occurring within the Care Home i was working.
The disclosures were made anonymously however the amount of information and details i provided was sufficient enough to immediately identify me as the Whistlblower.


What concerns me is that several months earlier i had requested information from the CQC under the FOIA in preparation for my hearing, regarding the details and dates of all anonymous concerns raised to them throughout a particular month, and was informed that to disclose such information / specific dates would be a breach of the Confidentiality Act under sections 44(1), 41(1) and 37(1) most notably due to it potentially revealing the identity of the informant, breach the trust of future anonymous whistlblowers, and the CQC's obligation to treat such anonymous disclosures as confidential for fear of reprisals or Biased therefore they would not disclose the information I requested.


In the event i would have been aware that my ex employers had possession of this document / full details of my disclosure, it would have totally changed the foundations on which i would have based my tribunal case on, hence potentially provided a different tribunal outcome, as well as provided a rational explanation as to the disgraceful treatment I was subject to.


Therefore I would appreciate some advise regarding if the above would be sufficient grounds to appeal against the tribunal outcome or request a re-hearing. Furthermore would I be able take action against the CQC.


In addition to the above upon the Respondent producing this document on the final day of the hearing the Judge became extremely angry and asked “how on earth had they managed to get possession of it and more importantly when“. Of which it then came to light a CQC Inspector had provided it just 2 days after I had made the disclosure to them.

[teaboy2]

Re: Grounds for appeal Breach of Confidentiality Act

Why didn't the respondent produce this to you during pre-hearing disclosure of documents between parties?

And on what grounds were you claiming constructive dismissal for?

[teaboy2]

Re: Grounds for appeal Breach of Confidentiality Act

Shirl sent me a PM in reply to my above post giving me details as to her grounds for making a claim, in respect of other members here i have posted my reply below - Though in respect of Shirl's wish to tell me the info in private i shall not post the content of her PM here!

"Right so you were unfairly dismissed for whistle blowing? Yes?

If so, why were you claiming constructive dismissal like you said in your thread? You should have been claiming automatic unfair dismissal for breach of your statutory right not to be dismissed under section 103A in response to your protected disclosure on section 43B or other parts to section 43, if relevant, between 43A-43L.

Personally, your best bet would be to speak an employment lawyer/solicitor about how to proceed with an appealing as they would be able to go over everything with you and give you better advise due to having a much clearer picture than i could possibly have without seeing your claim and case documents! Some usually give free first meetings. Some even take on cases on No Win no Fee if they believe you have a good chance of winning!

Can i ask - Have you received any advice from other forums or from a solicitor/lawyer at all! If from other forums please can you post a link to it, so i can see what advice had been given!"

[shirl66]

Re: Grounds for appeal Breach of Confidentiality Act

Thanks for your reply teaboy2

As a result of resigning from the company due the treatment i was subject to / unfair investigation & disciplinary process, i thought i had to claim Constructive Dismissal therefore that was what i stated on my ET1 form.

The reasons stated below were what the Judge from the C.M.D Hearing instructed of which he put on the written Orders / Directions i received ie :
Unlawful public interest disclosure detriment and unfair public interests disclosure dismissal under respectively, sections 48 and 103 A of the Employment Rights Act 1996 and ordinary unfair dismissal within section 98 of the 1996 Act,

I cant believe iv never picked up on the Unfair dismissal .... However now im aware of this shouldnt the judge at my hearing realized ? I feel iv been taken for a complete fool.

With regards to using any other forums this is the only one iv ever used.
I phoned numerous solicitors at the outset of tribunal proceedings however the moment i mentioned Constructive Dismissal and the fact that the respondent claimed i delayed resigning, i never actually got to the stage where i ever received a free consultation.

Please Note
The concerns i raised within the care home / CQC were regarding serious safegaurding issues most notably regarding that of financial fraud of which involved the CEO, (the person who the CQC provided full details of my anonymous concerns to 2 days after they had received it) the others after an investigation resulted in the homes manager having to resign due to his inability to recognize abusive practices.

The respondent failed to follow any of their procedures and failed to comply with the acas code on disciplinary's

A disciplinary hearing was held in my absence 2 days before my fathers funeral ( the reason why i was unable to attend it) of which it was decided i should receive a final written warning. I have never received the actual details of why i received a final warning or what for.

From the moment i was suspended as a result of false allegations against me, days after i voiced my concerns it was evident i had been set up and i made the respondents aware of this.

The respondents have produced lie after lie and fabricated evidence of which i provided evidence of.

I have lost my job, my home and been subject to an unfair tribunal hearing and a judge who had been totally misconceived, when making his final judgement, i have also been let down by an organisation that was supposed to protect me yet failed to do so "The CQC"

[teaboy2]

Re: Grounds for appeal Breach of Confidentiality Act

Thanks for your reply teaboy2

As a result of resigning from the company due the treatment i was subject to / unfair investigation & disciplinary process, i thought i had to claim Constructive Dismissal therefore that was what i stated on my ET1 form.

The reasons stated below were what the Judge from the C.M.D Hearing instructed of which he put on the written Orders / Directions i received ie :
Unlawful public interest disclosure detriment and unfair public interests disclosure dismissal under respectively, sections 48 and 103 A of the Employment Rights Act 1996 and ordinary unfair dismissal within section 98 of the 1996 Act,

I cant believe iv never picked up on the Unfair dismissal .... However now im aware of this shouldnt the judge at my hearing realized ? I feel iv been taken for a complete fool.

With regards to using any other forums this is the only one iv ever used.
I phoned numerous solicitors at the outset of tribunal proceedings however the moment i mentioned Constructive Dismissal and the fact that the respondent claimed i delayed resigning, i never actually got to the stage where i ever received a free consultation.

Please Note
The concerns i raised within the care home / CQC were regarding serious safegaurding issues most notably regarding that of financial fraud of which involved the CEO, (the person who the CQC provided full details of my anonymous concerns to 2 days after they had received it) the others after an investigation resulted in the homes manager having to resign due to his inability to recognize abusive practices.

The respondent failed to follow any of their procedures and failed to comply with the acas code on disciplinary's

A disciplinary hearing was held in my absence 2 days before my fathers funeral ( the reason why i was unable to attend it) of which it was decided i should receive a final written warning. I have never received the actual details of why i received a final warning or what for.

From the moment i was suspended as a result of false allegations against me, days after i voiced my concerns it was evident i had been set up and i made the respondents aware of this.

The respondents have produced lie after lie and fabricated evidence of which i provided evidence of.

I have lost my job, my home and been subject to an unfair tribunal hearing and a judge who had been totally misconceived, when making his final judgement, i have also been let down by an organisation that was supposed to protect me yet failed to do so "The CQC"

The problem is, with you resigning, you can not claim unfair dismissal as you weren't dismissed. So you kind of made it worse for yourself by resigning, when you should have waited for the out come of the disciplinary and then made a claim for them failing to follow proper procedures, but after first exhausting the grievance process. Hence why most solicitors seemed uninterested in it. So question now is, do you move on and learn from it or do you keep trying and find a way to appeal. bearing in mind you would still be claiming under constructive dismissal, which unless your permitted by a judge to change, your unlikely to succeed with your claim for constructive dismissal even if you were granted an appeal.

With hindsight, and no doubt your thinking this too, you should have sought advice before going ahead with your claim. Can i ask whether ACAS was involved at all?