When a client wants someone removed, your employer still has to investigate first.
“Dismissal found unfair, whistleblowingMaking a disclosure about wrongdoing in your workplace, such as a health and safety risk, a criminal act, or a miscarriage of justice. If the disclosure qualifies as protected, the law gives you signi... claim also established”
If you raised concerns at work and were subsequently removed or dismissed, the timing and connection between those two things matters. Your employer cannot lawfully use a client complaint or formal process as cover for acting against someone who spoke up.
- Whistleblowing protections apply to qualifying disclosures made in the public interest, including reports of legal breaches, health and safety risks, or cover-ups. The label your employer puts on the process does not determine whether those protections apply.
- Whistleblowing claims carry no cap on compensation. If you believe you were dismissed or treated unfairly because of something you disclosed, take specialist advice as early as possible.
- A process with a predetermined outcome is not a fair process, even if the steps were formally followed. If the timeline was set before the investigation was complete, that is relevant to whether it was genuine.
The situation
A client told a contractor company that they wanted an employee removed from a project, describing him as difficult. A formal process was opened with possible termination at the end. The timeline for that process was set before the company had completed its fact-finding. Vacancies that might have offered a suitable alternative were only raised after the application window had already closed. The employee had identified those vacancies himself.
What the tribunal found
The dismissal was automatically unfair under section 103AA provision of the Employment Rights Act 1996 that makes it automatically unfair to dismiss an employee for making a protected disclosure. There is no qualifying period for this claim, meaning you can... of the Employment Rights Act 1996The primary piece of legislation setting out employees rights in the UK, including the right not to be unfairly dismissed, the right to a written statement of employment particulars, and rights relati..., which protects employees from dismissal for making protected disclosures. The tribunal found the real reason for the process was not the client's complaint but the protected disclosures the employee had made. The company had used the client's request as the mechanism for doing something it could not lawfully have done directly.
DetrimentAny action your employer takes that puts you at a disadvantage, short of dismissal. In a whistleblowing or discrimination context, being moved to a worse role, excluded from meetings, or given an unfa... under section 47B was also found. The award was £66,295.11. Whistleblowing claims carry no statutory cap. The tribunal's observation about the HR witnesses: they displayed a lack of knowledge of, and disregard for, fair process.
Estcourt v Morrison Energy Services Limited. Case 3320594/2021. Watford Employment Tribunal. July 2025.