Former Balfour Beatty employee loses unfair dismissal claim

A former project manager at Balfour Beatty has lost a £300,000 claim that he was unfairly dismissed from his former employer for raising safety concerns.

Alan Dransfield, 59, took the contractor to court after claiming he was unfairly dismissed for raising health and safety concerns. Yesterday he was told that the Employment Tribunal’s decision had gone in Balfour Beatty’s favour.

Dransfield originally raised his safety concerns in November 2008, having worked for the company for four years. Two months later he was made redundant and he was finally laid off in June 2009 after a long dispute.

In October 2009 a judge gave him permission to claim up to £300,000 in lost earnings under the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998, nicknamed the whistleblower act. The claim was based on unfair dismissal, but the court ruled against his claim.

Dransfield, who represented himself, now intends to appeal to the Employment Appeals Tribunal.