Miss B complained about the way in which the Body dealt with her concerns.
The Ombudsman noted that the Body had considered Miss B’s concerns under its HR processes, rather than its complaints process. However, it had not clearly explained this to Miss B at the outset, resulting in her expecting a formal complaint response. Whilst the Ombudsman did not expect the Body to share any confidential information relating to an HR investigation, she considered it reasonable for the Body to establish whether Miss B had any outstanding concerns that could be considered under its complaints process, particularly concerns about communication during the investigation. The Ombudsman decided to settle the complaint without investigation.
The Ombudsman sought and gained the Body’s agreement to, within 2 weeks, apologise to Miss B for the lack of clarity around the investigation process, establish her outstanding concerns, agree to consider any concerns that fall under its complaints process, and where concerns fall outside the scope of the process, to provide a clear explanation of why these cannot be considered.