Background
Mrs L Cameron-Peck was employed as CEO of Ethical Social Group in September 2021 and was forced to resign in October of the same year.
During this time Cameron-Peck sent a WhatsApp message to the founder and group CEO Graham Pullam, informing him about people contacting her in tears to inform her of the bullying they had experienced. The bullying in the main came from Rhonda Alexander, the CEO of Flutter which is a subsidiary of Ethical Social Group.
On the 6 September Mrs Cameron-Peck sent Graham Pullam an email outlining 19 points that demonstrate the bullying behaviour of Rhonda Alexander. Further to this the tribunal heard evidence of Mr Pullam becoming angry over routine financial matters.
On 14th October Mrs Cameron-Peck reported her employer to HMRC after finding out that the company was not enrolled in a HMRC venture capital scheme which was contrary to their advertisements. In doing so she also found that HMRC had no record of her as an employee of the company.
In response to this, Mr Pullam removed Mrs Cameron-Peck from some key meetings and pulled her off Fluttr. This made Mrs Cameron-Peck feel isolated and vulnerable. She began to feel scared going to work and suffered stress-related medical problems.
Mr Pullam invited Mrs Cameron-Peck to a disciplinary hearing and the company quickly changed some HR policies to make covert recordings an act of gross misconduct. This lead Mrs Cameron-Peck to believe she was going to be presented with false allegations and resigned with immediate effect on October 28 2021.
Tribunal Judgment
At the tribunal, Mrs Cameron-Peck claimed unfair constructive dismissal, whistleblowing detriment and injury to feelings. She was successful in all her claims and was awarded a total of £185,250. The judge stated that Mr Pullam’s actions were “made with the aim of silencing the claimant” and that there was a “breach of the implied duty of mutual trust and confidence” on the employers’ behalf.
Commentary
Trust and confidence are the key building blocks for a successful working relationship. The employer and employee alike should be able to work together in good faith and common understanding.
When this isn't possible, employers shouldn’t seek to silence employees about genuine business concerns they have, issues raised about bullying in the workplace or potential HMRC risks should be taken seriously and investigated properly. The employee should never feel forced to resign as a result of making an honest and protected disclosure.
Call a specialist employment lawyer
Magara law is an employment law firm in Bicester, Banbury, Reading and Paddington, London, and services clients nationwide. For more information or to our employment law team at Magara Law, call 01869 325 883 or email roy@magaralaw.co.uk.
Related Posts
