Miss S J Austin v Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust — 2018

The liability tribunal had found that the claimant had depression, anxiety and fibromyalgia, and that behaviours leading to suspension and dismissal arose from disability. It found the claimant's conduct was not culpable or blameworthy, that dismissal was unfair, that summary dismissal breached her contractual right to notice, and that the respondent had not shown suspension or dismissal were proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim.

On remedy, the tribunal rejected the respondent's mitigation arguments for the period to the hearing. It accepted that the claimant had applied for many jobs, that her health and psychological barriers affected her job search, and that the respondent's reference stating dismissal for gross misconduct for breach of confidentiality was an obstacle. It also found her decision to retrain as a hairdresser was not unreasonable in her circumstances.

The tribunal awarded notice pay, a basic award for unfair dismissal, loss of statutory rights, past and future financial losses, CBT costs, pension loss, injury to feelings and personal injury. It treated the claimant's pension loss as a complex, career-long loss, subject to deductions for likely replacement pension provision, and applied interest and grossing up for tax.