NHS cleaner sacked for taking 400 sick days in four years wins huge payout
An NHS cleaner, who was sacked after taking over 400 days of sick leave in four years, has won a staggering £50,000 payout from a tribunal. Zoe Kitching, who had several extended periods of absence from her role at the Lancaster Suite at Royal Lancaster Infirmary between 2019 and 2023, was dismissed after her boss refused to accept she was disabled.
Most of her time off was due to “complex mental health issues”. However, one NHS superior insisted she wasn’t disabled before her unjust dismissal. Ms Kitching successfully sued the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust, representing herself at a Manchester hearing. She won claims of disability discrimination and unfair dismissal, resulting in an award of £49,147 in damages.
It was revealed that Ms Kitching often experienced breakdowns leading to time off. She requested reduced hours from her manager Ruth Bradburn at the Lancaster Suite, but this was denied.
One period of disability-related absence, from September 2020 to January 2021, lasted for 130 days. Despite previously being classified as disabled, in January 2021, the hospital received an occupational health report which ‘curiously’ stated she was ‘not a disabled person within the meaning of the Equality Act 2010’, according to the tribunal, reports The Mirror.
Over the following months, Mrs Bradburn – Patient Environment Site Services Manager – held meetings with Ms Kitching about her absences and set targets to reduce her days off. By June 2023, her absences had improved, but she was sacked by David Passant, Divisional Manager of Facilities. Christopher Brisley, People and OD Business Partner, told Mr Passant Ms Kitching was not disabled.
The tribunal judgement said: “[Ms Kitching] was extremely upset by the decision to dismiss her and the refusal of Mr Passant to recognise that [she] was a disabled person as defined under the Equality Act 2010. [Ms Kitching] asked for another chance and explained that her absences had been due to mental health. [She] said it was unnecessary for her to lose her job.”
“[Ms Kitching] was extremely upset after the decision was taken at appeal not to overturn the original decision to dismiss. We’ve accepted [her] evidence she felt she had been dismissed twice.”
Hospital records show that from 2019 until June 2023 – when she was sacked – she had a total 406 absence days. Of the 406 days, 85 per cent were connected to her disability and 12 per cent were due to non-disability related reasons, such as Covid-19 or general cold and flu.
Employment Judge Robert Childe criticised the managers, adding: “”We find the [NHS trust] should have permitted a high level of sickness absence overall from [Ms Kitching] and the failure to do so was a failure to make adjustments. We find the [NHS trust] did not act reasonably in treating as a sufficient reason for dismissing [Ms Kitching] in the circumstances.
“At no time during the dismissal meeting or appeal meeting did the [NHS trust] agree that [Ms Kitching] was a disabled person… which led to an unfair and fundamentally flawed and discriminatory decision to dismiss [her]. There was a wealth of medical evidence available… that [Ms Kitching] was a disabled person.
“We were particularly surprised Christopher Brisley advised Mr Passant, that [Ms Kitching] was not a disabled person. The decision to deny [Ms Kitching] was disabled was irrational and wrong, given the medical evidence available to the contrary.”
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