Record £4.5m award for disability
discrimination
A former local council
employee has been awarded over £4.5m compensation for disability discrimination
and harassment. The employee was dismissed from London Borough of Hammersmith
& Fulham in 2018.
An employment
tribunal found she had suffered disability
discrimination in 2021, with the remedy
award just finalised.
The record £4.58m
in compensation is one of the highest damages awards ever made in England and
Wales. It serves to highlight the extent of the risks associated with failing
to treat disabled employees fairly.
The employee,
Rachel Wright-Turner, was a Director at the Council. She had previously held a
role in another London Borough Council supporting residents of the Grenfell
Tower disaster, in which 72 people lost their lives. Following the tragedy, she
was subsequently diagnosed with PTSD.
Rachel made the Council
aware of her diagnosis on taking up her new role. She let her new employer know
she was having counselling. She also had a diagnosis of ADHD.
On the first day of
her induction, she was asked about her experiences of being evacuated from her
home by the Fire Service. She became distressed and highlighted how she was
feeling to her manager.
Performance
concerns were subsequently raised with her in May 2018. The Chief Executive of
the Council also accused Rachel of having withheld her ADHD diagnosis during
the recruitment process.
Rachel later told
colleagues she was struggling with her mental health during a social event. She
raised concerns about the potential consequences of being absent from work
during a probationary period. Rachel became very upset during the event,
hyperventilated and refused to leave a toilet cubicle.
Colleagues took her
to A&E, where she was found to be depressed, traumatised and suicidal. She
was not found to be intoxicated following the social event.
The Interim HR
Director was among the employees at the social event and reported that Rachel had
“had a lot to drink”. He also reported that Rachel had “wanted to be Sectioned”.
Rachel’s probationary
period was subsequently extended, as she was signed off work by her GP for an
extended period. An investigation into Rachel’s conduct was carried out by the
Council at the same time.
She was dismissed
from the role in August 2018, on the basis that she would not have been able to
complete her probation period to the employer’s satisfaction.
The Tribunal subsequently
found that the Interim HR Director had given misleading evidence about Rachel’s
alcohol consumption during the social event. The Tribunal also found that the Interim
HR Director and the Chief Executive had doctored the dismissal letter, so it
appeared to have been completed before Rachel raised a grievance, which was not
the case.
Peter Daly, a Partner
at Doyle Clayton, the firm which acted for Rachel, said:
“This is one of the largest awards ever made by an employment tribunal. It
reflects both the scale of what Rachael has suffered and the seriousness of the
unlawful conduct by her former employer.
“The award of
exemplary damages is particularly noteworthy and it is indicative that
Hammersmith & Fulham’s conduct fell egregiously below any acceptable
standard for a public authority.
The award made by
the Tribunal also included an ACAS uplift of £271,479 as the Council failed to
follow the ACAS Code. The damages award may turn out to be the largest single
award made at an employment tribunal.
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