Former workers
[ch 3: page 14]A former worker can bring a whistleblowing claim against an old employer who penalises them because of a disclosure they made while employed. A typical example is giving a bad reference because of a protected disclosure made while employed (Woodward v Abbey National PLC [2006] ICR 1436). It does not matter how much time has passed between the disclosure and the reference. All that matters is that the failure to give the reference was due, at least in part, to the protected disclosure.
There can be protection even if the disclosure was made after the employment ended:
A solicitor, Mr Onyango, resigned from his firm, Berkeley Solicitors. He then wrote to the firm saying he was planning a tribunal claim against them. He followed this up with a letter to the Legal Complaints Service about the firm. At this point, Berkeley reported him to the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), alleging forgery and dishonesty. The EAT confirmed that Onyango’s letter to the Legal Complaints Service could be a protected disclosure, even though it was written after he left the firm. Berkeley’s decision to complain about him to the SRA could be whistleblowing detriment, as long as it was motivated at least in part by his disclosure.
Onyango v Adrian Berkeley T/A Berkeley Solicitors [2013] UKEAT/0407/12/ZT