Claimant v Glasgow City Council
Outcome
Individual claims
This was an interim relief application under Section 161 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992. The claimant alleged dismissal for trade union activities under Section 152(1)(b). The tribunal refused interim relief, finding the claimant had not met the high bar of showing a 'pretty good chance of success' at final hearing. Both parties presented stateable cases on whether the conduct (emailing sensitive data) fell within protected trade union activities and whether there was animus against the claimant. The tribunal found considerable areas of factual and legal dispute requiring full hearing.
Facts
The claimant was employed as a social care worker and GMB convenor for approximately six years. In January 2024 she lodged a collective grievance on behalf of members regarding organisational change. Members agreed to ballot for industrial action in May 2024. On 9 May 2024, the claimant received a spreadsheet which she believed contained GMB member details. She converted it to PDF and sent it to her external GMB email address, which was her usual practice. The spreadsheet actually contained sensitive personal data of service users, triggering the respondent's Data Loss Prevention system. She was suspended on 16 May 2024 and ultimately dismissed on 3 April 2025 for gross misconduct following a disciplinary hearing held in her absence due to work-related stress.
Decision
The tribunal refused the claimant's application for interim relief. The tribunal found the claimant had not met the high bar of demonstrating a 'pretty good chance of success' at final hearing. There were substantial areas of factual and legal dispute on both limbs of her case: whether the conduct of emailing the data fell within protected trade union activities under Section 152, and whether the respondent had animus against her for her trade union role. Both parties presented equally strong but opposing cases requiring full hearing to determine.
Practical note
Interim relief applications involving alleged dismissal for trade union activities require careful analysis of whether the conduct leading to dismissal falls within protected activities or constitutes separate misconduct, and the 'pretty good chance of success' threshold is deliberately high where substantial factual and legal disputes exist.
Legal authorities cited
Statutes
Case details
- Case number
- 4100621/2025
- Decision date
- 30 April 2025
- Hearing type
- interim
- Hearing days
- 1
- Classification
- contested
Respondent
- Name
- Glasgow City Council
- Sector
- local government
- Represented
- Yes
- Rep type
- solicitor
Employment details
- Role
- Social care worker / GMB convenor
Claimant representation
- Represented
- Yes
- Rep type
- barrister