Mrs T Murphy v Lewisham & Greenwich NHS Trust — 2025

The Claimant, a long-serving Band 8B Senior Matron employed by the Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust from 19 January 1981 until her summary dismissal on 16 February 2023, brought complaints of detriment and automatic unfair dismissal on the ground of protected disclosures under sections 47B and 103A of the Employment Rights Act 1996, ordinary unfair dismissal under section 94, and wrongful dismissal. This was a liability-only hearing before Employment Judge Ramsden sitting with Mr P Adkins and Mrs H Carter at London South between 13 and 22 May 2025.

The Tribunal found that the Claimant was not subjected to any detriment on the ground of having made protected disclosures, and that she was not automatically unfairly dismissed under s.103A. However, the Tribunal upheld the ordinary unfair dismissal complaint under s.94, identifying shortcomings in the Respondent's investigation and disciplinary process and a failure to engage with the Claimant's explanations.

On wrongful dismissal, the Tribunal found that the Claimant did not commit a fundamental breach of her contract of employment. At most she failed to follow an indirect oral instruction from Mr Briggs during a busy period, which the Tribunal accepted was inadvertent, and which fell well short of conduct entitling the Respondent to terminate without notice. The wrongful dismissal complaint accordingly succeeded. Remedy, including any contributory conduct, Polkey or ACAS Code adjustments, was not determined at this hearing.