Jason Galbraith-Marten QC acts for senior SFO case controller found to have been unfairly and wrongfully dismissed

Jason Galbraith-Marten QC

In a decision issued on 16 February an Employment Tribunal has found that Tom Martin, who worked as a senior case controller for the Serious Fraud Office until his summary dismissal in December 2018, was both unfairly and wrongfully dismissed.

Mr. Martin was the lead investigator on the Unaoil case, one of the biggest bribery and corruption investigations carried out by the SFO. He was dismissed following complaints made by the US Department of Justice about his conduct in a pub some two years prior. However the Tribunal found that Mr. Martin was not in fact guilty of any serious misconduct. His dismissal was unfair because there had been a failure to properly investigate his complaint that US law enforcement agencies were acting in bad faith. Had a proper investigation been carried out, concluded the Tribunal, the only possible outcome was a finding that the complaints were indeed made as part of an attempt to secure Mr. Martin’s removal as case controller and not out of any genuine sense of grievance.