Mrs Nkechi Leeks v 1) King’s College London Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 2) Ms P Barnett 3) Mr D Paterson 4) Mr G Knowles 5) Mr J MacLeod — 2021

At the outset the tribunal found that Mrs Leeks was disabled by fibromyalgia, with chronic low back pain and spondylosis also accepted as relevant impairments. It noted potential time-limit issues for acts before 24 May 2017 under s.123 Equality Act 2010, but no case was advanced for extending time and the tribunal went on to determine the substantive complaints on the evidence before it.

The central factual dispute was the incident in The Sanctuary on 6 October 2016. The tribunal accepted Rev Barnett's account that she was providing pastoral support to a distressed outpatient and asked Mrs Leeks to leave temporarily so the patient could be seen in private. It rejected Mrs Leeks's account of the incident as implausible, found that she refused to leave and to identify herself, and held that the later investigation and disciplinary process were based on serious misconduct. Mr MacLeod dismissed her with immediate effect on 20 July 2017 and the appeal failed.

The disability-based complaints failed because the tribunal found that the Trust had already made adjustments where it knew they were needed, including allowing layers under uniform, temporary scrubs, and a review of hours, and that the claimant gave inconsistent information about what she required. It also rejected the allegations of mocking, dishonesty, interference with leave and medical appointments, and the various allegations tied to age, race, religion or belief and sex. On the protected-disclosure complaint, the tribunal accepted that she had raised concerns about staff eating patients' sandwiches and about bloody bandages on patient food trays, but found that the disciplinary investigation and the other alleged detriments were not because of those disclosures.

The contractual and post-employment claims also failed. The tribunal held that the claimant had committed gross misconduct, so the Trust was entitled to summarily dismiss her without notice. It also found that she had not proved any accrued holiday entitlement. As to the two post-termination victimisation claims, the references to Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Brighton & Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust were processed through Capita, were factual in form, recorded the reason for leaving as Dismissal-Conduct, and were not motivated by the claimant's protected acts.