The BBC Director-General, Tim Davie, has stated during a radio interview that Matt Wiessler, the whistleblower who first reported Martin Bashir’s methods to obtain an interview with Princess Diana, deserves a “full and unconditional apology”. During the interview Mr Davie said:
“The very person who raised this – and I know many staff feel very strongly about this – the very person who raised this as an issue, suffered enormous impacts, which we’re very sorry for. That cannot happen again. We have improved processes but I want to look again at things.”
Mr Davie has also indicated that Mr Wiessler is set to be offered compensation as the BBC were “clearly at fault” for the damage it has caused to his career.
Last week, the Dyson inquiry, which investigated the BBC’s conduct in securing the interview, found that Mr Wiessler, at the request of Mr Bashir, had mocked up several fake invoices which would assist Mr Bashir in obtaining the trust of Charles Spencer, Diana’s brother, and ultimately secure the infamous tell-all Panorama interview in 1995. The report also heavily criticised the then Director-General, Tony Hall, for failing to act.
After the inquiry was published, Mr Wiessler revealed that he raised ethical concerns with the BBC about the conduct of Mr Bashir but was then subsequently cut out of working for the corporation and was made “the fall guy” for the actions of Mr Bashir. In an interview with The Guardian last week, Mr Wiessler said:
“They threw me under the train. I’m still lying on the tracks. Come and pick me up.”
In 1996, an internal investigation was undertaken by the BBC which cleared Mr Bashir of any wrongdoing.
Whistleblowing claims
Under UK employment laws, workers, such as Mr Wiessler, who make protected disclosures (otherwise known as whistleblowing) are protected from being subject to a detriment (i.e. treated badly) because they had made a protected disclosure. In addition, employees are protected from being dismissed or selected for redundancy as a result of making a disclosure.
For a protected disclosure to be a ‘qualifying disclosure’ and attract legal protection, it must satisfy several requirements, which we have outlined here.
If a worker suffers a detriment (or an employee is dismissed) and the sole or principal reason for that was that they made a protected disclosure, they may bring a claim for a declaration and compensation.
There are no service requirements for these claims; workers and employees are protected from day one and compensation is potentially unlimited.
There are strict rules on calculating time limits to bring an Employment Tribunal claim. In the main, and subject to any extension for time spent participating in Acas early conciliation, there is a three-month time limit from the date that employment is terminated or the date of the detriment, to make a claim.
How Nelsons can help
Laura Kearsley is a Partner in our expert Employment Law team.
For further information concerning the subjects discussed in this article, please contact Laura or another member of the team in Derby, Leicester or Nottingham on 0800 024 1976 or via our online enquiry form.