Nurse Receives £41,000 Compensation for Constructive Dismissal

A nurse who was subjected to bullying behaviour by a colleague has succeeded in her claim of constructive unfair dismissal against the NHS trust she worked for.

The nurse had begun working for the trust as a Diabetes Specialist Nurse in 2012. In September 2018, she disagreed with a colleague about the appropriate treatment of a patient, and he asked if she was questioning his competency. After she reported the incident it was confirmed that her clinical assessment had been correct.

She claimed that, from then on, her colleague’s behaviour towards her became ‘noticeably dismissive’. He ignored greetings from her and would face the other way when she was presenting in meetings. He also stopped making tea for her when he was making it for the other team members. After she mislaid a reference book, she found it in a cupboard used by her colleague, with her name rubbed out and replaced by his. A mediation meeting took place at which, according to notes made by their line manager, her colleague became ‘quite personal’ towards her and said he did not like her. He repeated this remark at another mediation meeting seven months later.

He later made a complaint about her, which was dismissed. By this time, more than two years had passed since the initial disagreement between them. In December 2020 she saw her GP, who deemed her not fit for work due to stress. She returned to work the following month and, in June 2021, submitted a grievance. In August she was again deemed unfit for work by her GP, and never returned to her job. She resigned on 5 January 2022, saying that she considered herself constructively dismissed.

Ruling on her claim of constructive unfair dismissal, the Employment Tribunal (ET) noted that her line manager had made an effort to support her. However, her colleague’s conduct towards her fell far short of the standards expected by the trust, and yet it appeared to have done very little beyond speaking to him, except for making suggestions which it did not then follow through. The ET concluded that the trust had failed to appropriately address her colleague’s behaviour towards her.

The grievance procedure had led to a recommendation that a senior nurse be appointed to liaise with the nurse’s line manager and occupational health in order to support her to return to work. The ET found that the trust had failed to implement that recommendation, and had certainly failed to implement it in a timely manner.

It was plain to the ET that these two failures, individually and collectively, breached the implied term of trust and confidence between the nurse and her employer. She had been brought to such a state of stress, distress and poor health by the failures that she could not take any more. She was clearly justified in treating her employment contract as repudiated.

The ET found that she had resigned in response to the breach, and rejected the trust’s arguments that her own conduct was culpable or blameworthy. Her claim of constructive unfair dismissal was upheld. At a subsequent hearing, the trust was ordered to pay her compensation of £41,000.