NHS manager makes Employment Tribunal victimization claim over whistleblowing

A female manager at an NHS Trust has failed in her attempt to include a claim for victimization in her Employment Tribunal claim after she was dismissed from her job.

Jacqueline Boam, who worked for the South Staffordshire and Shropshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust for 26 years before she lost her job, made Employment Tribunal claims for unfair dismissal and detriment due to protected disclosure (commonly referred to as “whistleblowing”) last year and she contended that she had lost her job and been subjected to (unspecified) detriments because she had made disclosures regarding concerns at the hospital she worked at. Mrs Boam has also recently attempted to amend her claims to include a claim for victimization, alleging that the NHS Trust had carried out a “vendetta” against her because she had reported her concerns.

The case came to a preliminary hearing before the Birmingham Employment Tribunal earlier this year, with the Employment Tribunal hearing an application from Mrs Boam’s legal team to amend the claim to include the claim for victimization. The NHS Trust’s legal team opposed the amendment on the ground that it was “out of time” and that the allegations could cause delays to the hearing, add costs, and cause more witnesses to be brought into the case. Employment Judge Woffenden further stated that Mrs Boam could have taken legal advice on the proposed victimization claim before the deadline for her claims and that she could still proceed with her claims for unfair dismissal and detriment due to protected disclosures.

Mrs Boam declined to comment on the factual content of her Employment Tribunal claim or on the preliminary hearing.

Mr Greg Moores, for the NHS Trust, also declined to comment, aside from stating that he was aware that Mrs Boam had made a claim and that this was being pursued through the “normal legal channels”.