NHS worker who took more than 400 days off sick in 4 years wins discrimination case

An NHS cleaner who took more than 400 days of sick leave over four years has won a discrimination case after being unfairly dismissed.

Zoe Kitching, who worked at Royal Lancaster Infirmary’s Lancaster Suite, was sacked in June 2023 despite struggling with a range of mental health issues.

Records showed that 85 per cent of Kitching’s 406 absence days between 2019 and 2023 were related to her disability.

She suffered from anxiety, depression and bipolar disorder, with her mental health issues described as ‘complex’ by a tribunal.

One of her disability-related absences lasted 130 days, spanning from September 2020 to January 2021.

The remaining 12 per cent of her absences were attributed to non-disability related reasons, such as Covid-19 or general cold and flu symptoms.

Kitching had requested reduced hours from her manager Ruth Bradburn – but this request was denied.

Despite previously having been classified as disabled, an occupational health report in January 2021 said that Kitching was “not a disabled person within the meaning of the Equality Act 2010”.

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NHS managers relied solely on this report – and ignored other substantial evidence of her disability status, the tribunal found.

Bradburn held meetings with Kitching about her absences and set targets to reduce time off.

Although her attendance had improved by June 2023, divisional manager David Passant proceeded with her dismissal after HR boss Christopher Brisley advised that Kitching was not disabled.

Kitching then felt her “mental health disability had been ignored”.

The Manchester Employment Tribunal ruled in her favour after finding that health service bosses failed to recognise her disability status.

Kitching successfully sued University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust for disability discrimination and unfair dismissal.

Employment Judge Robert Childe told the tribunal: “We were particularly surprised that Christopher Brisley advised Passant that [Kitching] was not a disabled person.”

The tribunal found that the NHS trust “should have permitted a high level of sickness absence overall” from Kitching.

Childe also pointed to “a wealth of medical evidence available” proving Kitching was, in fact, disabled – and the tribunal ruled it was “irrational and wrong” to deny this.

It was an “unfair and fundamentally flawed and discriminatory decision” to dismiss her, the tribunal found.

The cleaner was “extremely upset” after both the initial dismissal and the failed appeal, feeling she had been “dismissed twice”.

She had pleaded for another chance, explaining her absences were due to mental health issues and that losing her job was unnecessary.

A separate hearing will determine the compensation amount Kitching will receive from the NHS trust.