Whistleblowing Partner Not Protected, Rules Court of Appeal

A ‘worker’ who acts as a ‘whistleblower’ – disclosing breaches of the law – receives statutory protection under the law if he or she suffers detrimental treatment as a result of having made the disclosure to the appropriate authorities.



Recently, a partner in a professional firm acted as a whistleblower, accusing a fellow partner of engaging in criminal activity including money laundering and bribery.



She claimed to have suffered a detriment and sought to rely on the legislation protecting workers, claiming that her disclosures were ‘protected disclosures’. However, the Court of Appeal rejected her argument, concluding that for such disclosures to be protected by the legislation, there has to be ‘a hierarchical relationship whereby the worker is to some extent subordinate to the employer’. This could not apply to an equity partner.