Sacked for a rumour which turned out to be true.
Discussion
I wonder if any of you guys can shed any light on this, as I'm a little baffled by whether it's legal or not.
A mate was working at a company in a central call centre, having transferring in from a local branch.
Whilst doing the job the owner of said company spoke to an old branch colleague of hers and said that the call centre she was working in was to be closed.
Colleague, who she got on well with was told this and told to keep it quiet. Which she did.
Over the next few months nothing really happened but the rumours starting circulating in the call centre, having come from a delivery driver for the company, rather than her. She managed to speak to the delivery driver and she was told the rumour herself, directly.
A couple of weeks later she and a few fellow staff were talking about it, and she said that she'd heard the rumours too and believed them to be true, and that she's now looking for another job.
She went away on holiday for a week.
Goes back into work and told the she's been reported for circulating rumours that the call centre is going to close and everybody needs to find other jobs.
Hearing set for next week.
Their paperwork arrives and she can see fellow staff have thrown her under the bus completely telling the company she told them first, and started the rumours, which is totally untrue (she claims).
She then got statements from colleagues in previous branch who confirmed they heard it from the same delivery driver, delivery driver confirms he heard it from somebody else and her colleague who the other staff suspected told her of the rumour confirmed she wasn't told by him.
She goes into the hearing, and was told that she is being sacked for gross misconduct and leaves immediately.
A matter of weeks later, she gets wind of an email sent company wide that the call centre is closing, and manages to snag a copy of it.
She's now in another job and happy, but she asked me with the information she now has, whether it's worth pursuing with any sort of hearing review as she was sacked based on the rumours, which turned out to be true.
TL;DR, a mate of mine was sacked due to rumours which she didn't start, a matter of weeks later the rumours were confirmed to be true. Does she have any sort of recourse?
A mate was working at a company in a central call centre, having transferring in from a local branch.
Whilst doing the job the owner of said company spoke to an old branch colleague of hers and said that the call centre she was working in was to be closed.
Colleague, who she got on well with was told this and told to keep it quiet. Which she did.
Over the next few months nothing really happened but the rumours starting circulating in the call centre, having come from a delivery driver for the company, rather than her. She managed to speak to the delivery driver and she was told the rumour herself, directly.
A couple of weeks later she and a few fellow staff were talking about it, and she said that she'd heard the rumours too and believed them to be true, and that she's now looking for another job.
She went away on holiday for a week.
Goes back into work and told the she's been reported for circulating rumours that the call centre is going to close and everybody needs to find other jobs.
Hearing set for next week.
Their paperwork arrives and she can see fellow staff have thrown her under the bus completely telling the company she told them first, and started the rumours, which is totally untrue (she claims).
She then got statements from colleagues in previous branch who confirmed they heard it from the same delivery driver, delivery driver confirms he heard it from somebody else and her colleague who the other staff suspected told her of the rumour confirmed she wasn't told by him.
She goes into the hearing, and was told that she is being sacked for gross misconduct and leaves immediately.
A matter of weeks later, she gets wind of an email sent company wide that the call centre is closing, and manages to snag a copy of it.
She's now in another job and happy, but she asked me with the information she now has, whether it's worth pursuing with any sort of hearing review as she was sacked based on the rumours, which turned out to be true.
TL;DR, a mate of mine was sacked due to rumours which she didn't start, a matter of weeks later the rumours were confirmed to be true. Does she have any sort of recourse?
Your friend might find this interesting:
http://www.mondaq.com/uk/x/781746/Whistleblowing/W...
That said there are tight time limits to take an action, and in any case going to law is a very expensive nightmare. Few folks do well at ET's.
http://www.mondaq.com/uk/x/781746/Whistleblowing/W...
That said there are tight time limits to take an action, and in any case going to law is a very expensive nightmare. Few folks do well at ET's.
Sten. said:
How long did she work the company?
Irrelevant is she was whistleblowing. It is difficult to say much without knowing a lot more but suffice to say she wants to either ask an employment lawyer for an answer after giving them lots of information.... There are a fair few questions which need to be answered - she could read up on whistleblowing first...
Then of course the question is what does she want to do about it and bear in mind she has time limits.
Thanks for the link, I've sent it over to her.
It happened around November last year.
She was more so asking about whether there is any recourse as the rumours which she didn't start spreading, only confirmed she'd heard them, which were later found to be true. She did say either financially, or by making sure they don't do it to someone else, again.
It happened around November last year.
She was more so asking about whether there is any recourse as the rumours which she didn't start spreading, only confirmed she'd heard them, which were later found to be true. She did say either financially, or by making sure they don't do it to someone else, again.
Jasandjules said:
Sten. said:
How long did she work the company?
Irrelevant is she was whistleblowing. It is difficult to say much without knowing a lot more but suffice to say she wants to either ask an employment lawyer for an answer after giving them lots of information.... There are a fair few questions which need to be answered - she could read up on whistleblowing first...
Then of course the question is what does she want to do about it and bear in mind she has time limits.
ruggedscotty said:
Jasandjules said:
Sten. said:
How long did she work the company?
Irrelevant is she was whistleblowing. It is difficult to say much without knowing a lot more but suffice to say she wants to either ask an employment lawyer for an answer after giving them lots of information.... There are a fair few questions which need to be answered - she could read up on whistleblowing first...
Then of course the question is what does she want to do about it and bear in mind she has time limits.
re read your link and think about it.
They were spreading a rumour - this isn't whistle blowing.
even though it was about a location closing it still wasn't whistle blowing -
Complaints that count as whistleblowing
You’re protected by law if you report any of the following:
a criminal offence, eg fraud
someone’s health and safety is in danger
risk or actual damage to the environment
a miscarriage of justice
the company is breaking the law, eg doesn’t have the right insurance
you believe someone is covering up wrongdoing
they were unfairly dismissed but it wasn't for whistle blowing. If they were aware of a closure and had been asked not to disclose that to the workers then they broke confidentiality, what the company did want illegal, they were undertaking business and had asked an employee to keep certain items of information confidential. they breached that.
They were spreading a rumour - this isn't whistle blowing.
even though it was about a location closing it still wasn't whistle blowing -
Complaints that count as whistleblowing
You’re protected by law if you report any of the following:
a criminal offence, eg fraud
someone’s health and safety is in danger
risk or actual damage to the environment
a miscarriage of justice
the company is breaking the law, eg doesn’t have the right insurance
you believe someone is covering up wrongdoing
they were unfairly dismissed but it wasn't for whistle blowing. If they were aware of a closure and had been asked not to disclose that to the workers then they broke confidentiality, what the company did want illegal, they were undertaking business and had asked an employee to keep certain items of information confidential. they breached that.
ruggedscotty said:
re read your link and think about it.
They were spreading a rumour - this isn't whistle blowing.
even though it was about a location closing it still wasn't whistle blowing -
Complaints that count as whistleblowing
You’re protected by law if you report any of the following:
a criminal offence, eg fraud
someone’s health and safety is in danger
risk or actual damage to the environment
a miscarriage of justice
the company is breaking the law, eg doesn’t have the right insurance
you believe someone is covering up wrongdoing
they were unfairly dismissed but it wasn't for whistle blowing. If they were aware of a closure and had been asked not to disclose that to the workers then they broke confidentiality, what the company did want illegal, they were undertaking business and had asked an employee to keep certain items of information confidential. they breached that.
The company never addressed the rumours, and never quashed them. Even the management on site were aware of the rumours and were heard talking about it too. She told me there was no request to keep it quiet. They were spreading a rumour - this isn't whistle blowing.
even though it was about a location closing it still wasn't whistle blowing -
Complaints that count as whistleblowing
You’re protected by law if you report any of the following:
a criminal offence, eg fraud
someone’s health and safety is in danger
risk or actual damage to the environment
a miscarriage of justice
the company is breaking the law, eg doesn’t have the right insurance
you believe someone is covering up wrongdoing
they were unfairly dismissed but it wasn't for whistle blowing. If they were aware of a closure and had been asked not to disclose that to the workers then they broke confidentiality, what the company did want illegal, they were undertaking business and had asked an employee to keep certain items of information confidential. they breached that.
monkfish1 said:
Consider this. Who would employ someone who took their employer to court?
Given she has a job and is happy, to persue this would be madness. IMO
Surely this would never come up in a standard reference? If it was me I'd want the record of being let go for gross misconduct removed from my record, it might not impact her now but if a future employer gets multiple references she could be disadvantaged.Given she has a job and is happy, to persue this would be madness. IMO
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