A landmark judgment issued on Tuesday said: “The tribunal considered that it was reasonable for the claimant [Stewart] to go to the UK’s public service broadcaster when relevant information and/or allegations had already been put into the public domain … and government ministers were publicly disputing them.”.
An employment panel of three judges unanimously found the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) unfairly dismissed Josie Stewart in 2021 after she leaked information in the public interest.
But Stewart’s barrister, Gavin Millar KC, said if the FCDO’s argument succeeded it would “drive a coach and horses through” the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 (Pida) aimed at protecting whistleblowers.
Stewart lost her job after her security clearance was removed when it emerged she told the BBC about failures in the withdrawal from Kabul and leaked emails suggesting that Johnson had prioritised staff from the animal charity Nowzad for evacuation over more deserving cases.
Stewart’s solicitors, James and West, a legal firm that specialises in whistleblowing, said the judgment was “groundbreaking”, as it was the first case of its kind to establish that a civil servant was protected for disclosures to the media.
