Whistleblowing: Key Court of Appeal case considers “public interest” test

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The Court of Appeal has heard the appeal in the important whistleblowing case Chesterton Global Ltd (t/a Chesterton Humberts) and another v Nurmohamed. This is a key case in terms of considering when a disclosure is "in the public interest", a key hurdle for claimants seeking to demonstrate that a disclosure is protected. The appeal was heard in the Royal Courts of Justice on 8 June. Whistleblowing charity Public Concern at Work intervened in the case and was able to make representations before the Court of Appeal. In June 2013, whistleblowing laws were changed to require that, to be protected, a worker must have reasonably believed that he or she was making the disclosure "in the public interest". The change was intended to prevent claimants from misusing whistleblowing protection in relation to the disclosure of matters relating to their own contract of employment. Since this change to the law, there has been debate as to the scope of the phrase "in the public interest". Chesterton was the first appeal case to consider the issue. Mr Nurmohamed, a manager with a large estate agent, raised concerns about discrepancies with how his commission under a new commissioning structure was calculated. He contended that the discrepancies were deliberate and that the accounts were being man