Subject access request self serve
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1. What is your question about?
Refusing a request or withholding information
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2. What is your question?
There is an ongoing grievance, complaint or court case associated with a request, does this mean I can withhold information?
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3. What does your question relate to?
Employee or ex-employee grievance or tribunal
The following information might help answer your question
No, there is no specific exemption in this situation. You should comply with the request. People have the right to obtain a copy of their personal information from you even if they're going through a tribunal or grievance process.
You cannot simply refuse to comply because the worker is undergoing a grievance or tribunal process, and you believe they intend to use their personal information to obtain information for potential litigation. If you believe it isn’t appropriate to disclose the relevant information, you must demonstrate what exemption you are using and why.
It is important to note that whilst there may be separate rules for disclosing information in the course of a tribunal, you must comply with a SAR. This applies even if there may be some cross-over in the information supplied.
However, even if you have already disclosed the information through another statutory process, such as in employment tribunal proceedings, this does not mean you can refuse to comply with a SAR.
Documents disclosed for the purposes of the litigation may not contain all the worker’s personal information. Alternatively, the worker may have only been allowed to view the information rather than receive a copy. In this instance, you must review the request and, where possible, provide them with a copy of their information.
You may also hold other personal information that was either not required to be disclosed at the time of the tribunal or did not exist at the time. You could potentially disclose this information under a SAR, particularly if you did not disclose it during the tribunal proceedings.
You should also bear in mind that the information disclosed during the tribunal proceedings is given to the worker’s legal representative and not to the worker. You cannot assume that the worker can access any or all the information, just because you have provided it to their lawyer. They may also have changed their legal representative during the case. You should carefully consider the circumstances of the request and must ensure you provide all the worker’s personal information that they’re entitled to.
Example
A worker is taking your organisation to tribunal, claiming unfair dismissal. You provided their legal representative with a bundle of documents about the case. The worker has also submitted a SAR. You refused to comply with the SAR as you believe you have already supplied the information to the worker’s legal representative.
However, the tribunal bundle did not contain all the worker’s personal information you held, and it was not given directly to the worker. In this instance, you must review the SAR and provide them with a copy of their personal information.