This site is for people interested in the case D J Trotter v Grattan Plc. It concerns Employment Tribunal decisions relating to Grattan’s "random" searches of employees, including searches for information. Grattan plc’s Stop and Search policy included body searches and searches of data stored on mobile ‘phones owned by employees. The site may therefore be useful to persons interested in the more general subject of how Employment Tribunals in Britain treat the subjects of Stop and Search policies and privacy at work / workplace privacy.

The Bradford based mail order company Grattan plc, along with Freemans plc, Parcelnet and Electinfo, is a subsidiary of Otto Versand UK ltd, which in turn is a subsidiary of the giant German mail order firm Otto Versand. I am David Trotter, one of the protagonists in the case, and I worked at Grattan’s Head Office in Anchor House. However, to protect Grattan plc and the Tribunals from my interpretations, descriptions of facts and events are supported by references to documents such as the decisions of the Employment Tribunal and the Employment Appeal Tribunal, etc. In any case, I have changed my mind about even the most extreme aspects of Grattan plc’s random Stop and Search policy.

Throughout this site, the use of "Tribunal" implies "Employment Tribunal" and the use of EAT implies "Employment Appeal Tribunal".

There are three decisions regarding the case Trotter v Grattan Plc that may be of use to persons involved in legal cases relating to similar subjects:

The original hearing was held in Leeds and was chaired by Mr M Humphreys. The case number was 1808370/01 and the decision was dated 31^st October 2002.

Having the same chairman and case number was the Tribunal’s "DECISION ON APPLICATION FOR REVIEW", which was dated 28^th April 2003.

The EAT hearing was held in London and chaired by His Honour Judge Burke QC. The appeal number was UKEAT/0179/03/SM and the decision was dated 20^th January 2004.

One or both of the following links to the EAT’s judgment may still be valid:

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