NHS hospital cleaner who took more than 400 sick days before getting sacks WINS £50,000 payout for ‘unfair dismissal’

AN NHS infirmary cleaner who was sacked aft being disconnected sick much than 400 days successful conscionable 4 years has won £50,000 successful compensation.

Zoe Kitching had respective lengthy periods of sick permission from 2019 to 2023 arsenic she struggled with "complex intelligence health issues".

But contempt determination being a "wealth of evidence", wellness work managers failed to recognise that Ms Kitching was disabled and fired her implicit the absences.

An employment justice said they were "particularly surprised" that 1 NHS brag insisted she was not disabled up of her unfair sacking.

The tribunal ruled that it was "irrational and wrong" to contradict Ms Kitching of her disability presumption and that she should person been afforded much sick leave.

Ms Kitching, a cleaner astatine Royal Lancaster Infirmary, successfully sued the spot that runs the site, University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust.

Representing herself astatine the proceeding successful Manchester, she won claims of disablement favoritism and unfair dismissal.

Now she has been awarded £49,147 successful damages.

The tribunal was told Ms Kitching worked connected the Lancaster Suite astatine Royal Lancaster Infirmary.

She suffered with anxiety, depression, and was bipolar, it was heard. Her issues were described arsenic 'complex'.

Hospital records amusement that from 2019 until June 2023 - erstwhile she was sacked - she had a full 406 lack days.

Of the 406 days, 85 per cent were connected to her disablement and 12 per cent were owed to non-disability related reasons, specified arsenic Covid-19 oregon wide acold and flu.

One play of disability-related absence, from September 2020 to January 2021, lasted for 130 days.

Ms Kitching sometimes suffered breakdowns which led to having clip off, it was heard.

She asked her manager Ruth Bradburn if she could chopped down her hours astatine the Lancaster Suite, but Ms Bradburn refused the request.

Although she had antecedently been classified arsenic disabled, successful January 2021 the infirmary received an occupational wellness study which 'curiously' stated she was 'not a disabled idiosyncratic wrong the meaning of the Equality Act 2010', the tribunal found.

Over the pursuing months, Mrs Bradburn - Patient Environment Site Services Manager - held meetings with Ms Kitching implicit her absences and acceptable her targets to trim days off.

By June 2023, her absences had improved, but she was sacked by David Passant, Divisional Manager of Facilities.

Christopher Brisley, People & OD Business Partner, told Mr Passant that Ms Kitching was not disabled.

It was heard the NHS managers lone took the January 2021 Occupational Health study into relationship and ignored different evident grounds that Ms Kitching was disabled.

Ms Kitching felt her "mental health disablement had been ignored".

The tribunal judgement said: "[Ms Kitching] was highly upset by the determination to disregard her and the refusal of Mr Passant to recognise that [she] was a disabled idiosyncratic arsenic defined nether the Equality Act 2010.

"[Ms Kitching] asked for different accidental and explained that her absences had been owed to intelligence health. [She] said it was unnecessary for her to suffer her job.

"[Ms Kitching] was highly upset aft the determination was taken astatine entreaty not to overturn the archetypal determination to dismiss. We’ve accepted [her] grounds that she felt that she had been dismissed twice."

Employment Judge Robert Childe criticised the managers, saying "at nary point... did Ruth Bradburn signifier the view that [Ms Kitching] had a disability" and that "Mr Passant did not hold that she had a disability".

Judge Childe said: "We find the [NHS trust] should person permitted a precocious level of sickness lack wide from [Ms Kitching] and the nonaccomplishment to bash truthful was a nonaccomplishment to marque adjustments.

"We find that the [NHS trust] did not enactment reasonably successful treating that arsenic a capable crushed for dismissing [Ms Kitching] successful the circumstances.

"At nary clip during the dismissal gathering oregon entreaty gathering did the [NHS trust] hold that [Ms Kitching] was a disabled person... which led to an unfair and fundamentally flawed and discriminatory determination to disregard [her].

"There was a wealthiness of aesculapian grounds available... that [Ms Kitching] was a disabled person.

"We were peculiarly amazed that Christopher Brisley advised Mr Passant, that [Ms Kitching] was not a disabled person.

"The determination to contradict that [Ms Kitching] was disabled was irrational and wrong, fixed the aesculapian grounds disposable to the contrary."