Campaigning body Liberty has called for an inquiry into employers who used a blacklisting service to screen out ‘trouble-makers’ to be reopened and has threatened legal action against the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) if it fails to do so.
The blacklisting first came to light in 2008 when it was revealed that more than 40 leading employers had subscribed to a vetting service provided by shadowy organization The Consulting Association (TCA), which had files on more than 3,000 workers.
The ICO duly raided the TCA the following year and prosecutions followed, with some workers winning substantial payouts at employment tribunals. However, Liberty has now written to the ICO demanding that takes further action. And the campaigners are threatening to go to court to force the ICO to reopen the case.
Likening the blacklisting scandal to the national press ‘phone hacking scandal Corinna Ferguson, legal officer for Liberty said: “”We can’t believe the inaction of the Information Commissioner on a human-rights violation of such wide public interest.
“Contracting out the blacklisting of innocent workers, politicians and journalists is no better than farming out phone hacking to private detectives and the consequences for our democracy are just as grave. If we cannot persuade the Commissioner to discharge his public duty, we will consider seeking assistance from the courts.”
A Liberty spokesman added: “In 2009 the ICO closed down the construction industry’s blacklist operated by The Consulting Association. Ian Kerr, who ran TCA, was prosecuted and fined £5,000 and a number of construction companies were served with enforcement notices. These were the highest powers we had available to us at that time. Our action was widely welcomed.”
And it was announced late last month that blacklisted construction workers have launched a £600m High Court claim against Sir Robert McAlpine for conspiring with other firms to keep them out of work.