Record award of £4.6 million made in discrimination and harassment claim

Former council employee Rachael Wright-Turner was dismissed from her position at the Council of London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in 2018 after taking sick leave due to suffering PTSD symptoms following the Grenfell Tower fire. The Employment Tribunal has now granted Ms Wright-Turner £4.6 million in compensation for disability discrimination and harassment – believed to be one of the highest ever awards in damages against a public sector employer.

Ms Wright-Turner served as Director of Public Service Reform for Hammersmith & Fulham Council. Before her tenure there, Ms Wright-Turner had worked as a humanitarian assistance lead officer at the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and was actively involved in aiding residents affected by the Grenfell Tower tragedy in June 2017, which resulted in the loss of 72 lives.

Due to this and her own traumatic experience of being evacuated from her home during the fire, Ms Wright-Turner was diagnosed with PTSD in October 2017 shortly before commencing her new role with Hammersmith & Fulham Council. Despite informing the council of her PTSD and ADHD diagnoses on her first day, her line manager discussed a distressing YouTube video of the fire, triggering Ms Wright-Turner's emotional distress. Some weeks later, concerns were raised about Ms Wright-Turner’s performance and she was accused of not disclosing her ADHD during the recruitment process.

Later that day Ms Wright-Turner was invited by colleagues to a local pub. She told them she was struggling with her mental health and raised concerns about the potential repercussions of taking sick leave before she completed her probation. Ms Wright-Turner suffered a panic attack and was taken to A&E, where she was assessed as being depressed and traumatised, but not intoxicated. The council’s interim HR director, who was among those at the pub with Ms Wright-Turner, later reported that she had “had a lot to drink” and “wanted to be sectioned”.

Ms Wright-Turner was signed off by her GP and her probation period was extended. In August 2018 Ms Wright-Turner was dismissed, with the council stating she would not be able to complete her probation period satisfactorily.

During the Employment Tribunal hearing the Council was found to have deliberately misled the Tribunal when it suggested it had told Ms Wright-Turner on the day of the pub visit that her probation period would be extended. This decision was taken a day later when it appeared Ms Wright-Turner would be taking time off for her mental health.

The Tribunal also concluded that Council employees had conspired to tamper with Ms Wright-Turner’s dismissal letter. Their evidence to the Tribunal “sought to rely on facts which they knew to be untrue”. The Tribunal Judge’s remarks underscored the severity of the Council's actions, noting their deliberate omission of Ms Wright-Turner's sickness absence from dismissal documents as a clear attempt to evade accountability.

This case highlights the importance of addressing workplace discrimination and harassment, particularly concerning mental health issues, and stresses the significant and often costly consequences for both individuals and organisations in such circumstances. The outcome of this hearing also stresses the importance of comprehensive training for managers to ensure compliance with anti-discrimination laws and foster an inclusive work environment.

Readers may well be intrigued to know how the award in this case amounted to £4.6 million. The majority of the award - £1.5 million - was made up of compensation for lost pension and future earnings up to retirement age, as the Tribunal took the view Ms Wright-Turner would never be able to work again due to her treatment. The five years between dismissal and the final judgment also contributed to the large award; Ms Wright-Turner was awarded £327,631 for her past losses and £92,000 for mortgage interest losses.

Beyond this, an award of £140,000 was made for injury to feelings, aggravated damages, and psychiatric injury. The Tribunal found that the Council had full knowledge of Ms Wright-Turner’s disabilities and that it subjected her to significant detriments because of these. The Tribunal took particular note of its negative inferences drawn from the evidence tampering and the finding that, had it not been for Ms Wright-Turner’s sick leave, she would not have been dismissed. The Council also failed to follow both the ACAS code and their own Probation and Sickness absence policies and did not consider Ms Wright-Turner’s appeal properly, raising her award further. The final award was grossed up by almost £2 million to account for tax. The amount of this disability discrimination award is particularly significant when considering the average award for such claims in 2023 was £45,435.

For advice and training around preventing and addressing workplace discrimination please get in contact with our Employment Team by emailing Eleanor Disney at edisney@leathesprior.co.uk.