£3.4m LLP member whistleblowing claim permitted to proceed
Losses resulting from expulsion following whistleblowing can be very substantial, and there is no statutory limit on the amount of compensation that can be awarded.
But in some cases the expulsion of the whistleblower may:
- be based (at least on the face of the expulsion documentation) not on the whistleblowing, but on different, lawful grounds, or
- be achieved by way of resolution of the other members under the terms of the LLP deed, under provisions requiring no grounds to be stated.
In such circumstances it may be argued by the continuing LLP members that the chain of causation between the whistleblowing and the whistleblower’s loss brought about by the expulsion of the whistleblower has been broken, and that accordingly no recoverable loss arises.
The Court of Appeal decision earlier this year in Wilsons Solicitors & others v Roberts brings such scenarios sharply back into focus.
