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WHISTLEBLOWING PRISON OFFICER AWARDED £43,875 FOR VICTIMISATION
12 May 2008
Emma Howie, the Wakefield prison officer who suffered hostility and victimisation after she appeared as a witness in a successful whistleblowing case, has been awarded £43,875 by the Employment Tribunal.
The award, one of the highest for claim of this kind, included £22,500 to cover ‘injury to feelings’ as well as £10,000 for ‘aggravated damages’ because the way her complaint was handled was a “travesty of what should have occurred” and the Prison Service had done “everything it could… to rub salt into the wounds.” In a highly unusual move, the Tribunal also ordered the Prison Service to pay Ms Howie’s legal costs.
Ms Howie was subject to detriment after she appeared as a witness in a successful and high profile whistleblowing case in December 2004, brought by Senior Officer Carol Lingard, highlighting wrongdoing at H.M.P Sutton and H.M.P Wakefield. She is still employed by the Prison Service.
John Sturzaker, Ms Howie’s solicitor from the award-winning Employment Law Team at Russell Jones & Walker commented:
“The Tribunal’s award is one of the highest possible for a claim of this kind, highlighting the extent of discrimination that Ms Howie suffered because of her decision to speak up about wrongdoing in the prison.
“The Tribunal summarised its findings as “damning conclusions.” The total level of the award and the highly unusual steps of ordering the Prison Service to pay aggravated damages and legal costs, reflect the Tribunal’s view of the comprehensive failure on the part of the Prison Service.
“What makes this even more troubling is that, that the case bears striking similarities to the Lingard whistleblowing case. Despite assurances that the Service would learn lessons from that case, it seems that it has done little to change the culture that encourages people to ‘turn a blind eye’ and victimises those who speak up.”
Background to the case
Ms Howie, a 35-year-old from Wakefield, joined the Prison Service in 1997. She was described by the Leeds Employment Tribunal as "a very competent prison officer at Wakefield, having been put forward for the National Prison Officer of the Year Award in 2003." Ms Howie was subjected to detriment after she was a witness in a successful and high profile whistleblowing case in December 2004 brought by Senior Officer Carol Lingard.
- Ms Lingard had brought the claim against the Prison Service for wrongdoing she witnessed at Wakefield Prison. She was subsequently awarded nearly £500,000 compensation and costs. Ms Howie was a witness in that case, giving evidence about the bullying of prisoners and of hostility to whistleblowers that was "directly material" to Ms Lingard’s claim.
- After the Lingard decision the Director General of the Prison Service, Mr Phil Wheatley, said the way Ms Lingard had been treated was "a regrettable and indefensible incident" and one which he did not "ever want to recur again at Wakefield or anywhere else."
- He said that Ms Lingard "was failed at every level in the organisation" and that the prison service needed "to learn the lessons and sharpen up our response to those sorts of complaints and be alert to the fact that when we receive complaints we must deal with them properly."
But as the Leeds Employment Tribunal have now noted, the Prison Service "uttered fine words but failed to carry those through into meaningful actions" – Wakefield Prison has again failed one of its officers.
Ms Howie was victimised by other officers at Wakefield Prison as a consequence of giving evidence of wrongdoing at the prison. She raised a complaint to management about her treatment, and in particular that the Prison Officers Association branch secretary had deliberately leaked a confidential document about her in an attempt to promote hostility against her as a whistleblower. As a result, the Governor of Wakefield Prison launched an investigation. But, in a scathing judgment, the Tribunal found that the officer Ms Howie had accused "was effectively allowed to escape entirely free of punishment for seriously unacceptable conduct". The Tribunal also stated that they were "astonished" at the handling of the investigation into Ms Howie’s complaint.
The Employment Tribunal went on to find that the attempts to explain the handling of the investigation by H.M. Prison Service were "entirely inadequate" and that officers had "lied and deliberately lied". The Tribunal said they had "no difficulty whatsoever" in concluding that the reason for the handling and conclusion of the investigation was because Ms Howie was a whistleblower.