Employment cases of note (February 2019)

Each month brings more changes to the world of employment. While some changes relate to case law, others follow on from regulatory and legislative changes. This article offers an insight into what the healthcare sector needs to be aware of.

Since 2013, whistleblower protection has only been available to workers who reasonably believe that their disclosure is in the public interest. Can allegations by a worker that they have been defamed ever satisfy this test? The answer is—it all depends on the facts, as was pointed out by the case of Ibrahim v HCA International Limited (HM Courts and Tribunals Service, 2019).

In this case, Mr Ibrahim complained to HCA (a healthcare business) that rumours were circulating that he was responsible for breaches of patient confidentiality. Mr Ibrahim said he needed to ‘clear his name’. HCA investigated his complaint but rejected it. When Mr Ibrahim was later dismissed, he lodged a whistleblowing claim.