Mrs Marie Shillito v The Disabilities Trust — 2020

Mrs Shillito was a long-serving Service Manager and Registered Manager at Gregory Court. After returning from maternity leave, the respondent identified serious concerns about the management of a service user with a grade 3 pressure sore, fluid balance charts, team leader performance, and other safeguarding and governance issues. The tribunal accepted that the respondent’s true reason for dismissal was some other substantial reason, namely loss of trust and confidence and concern that allowing her to return as Service Manager would put service users at risk, rather than dismissal for misconduct as such.

The tribunal found that the respondent had carried out a reasonable investigation and formed a reasonable belief that the claimant had committed the conduct found at the disciplinary stage, including failures relating to the pressure sore, fluid charts, and oversight of staff. It accepted that the claimant had made admissions about gaps in records, delayed reporting of the pressure sore, and her reliance on staff and assistant managers, but also noted substantial mitigation arising from her phased return, staffing shortages, and the volume of action plans after maternity leave.

The dismissal was nevertheless held unfair because the respondent did not properly explore alternatives before terminating employment for SOSR. Ms Ward had said she would consider alternative roles, but the tribunal found she did not genuinely investigate them, did not inform the claimant what alternatives were being considered, and effectively limited the decision to acceptance of the Assistant Manager role at Victoria House or dismissal. The appeal against the SOSR dismissal was also flawed because the claimant was not told who would sit on the appeal panel, had no opportunity to object, and Victoria Pilkington sat on the panel despite the obvious dispute about what had been said in an assurance call.

On remedy, the tribunal found the claimant’s conduct substantially contributed to the dismissal. It held that her failures around the fluid charts and pressure sore were blameworthy and had contributed directly to the breakdown in trust and confidence, so any basic award and compensatory award should be reduced by 75%. No monetary figure was fixed in this judgment, and the case was listed for a later remedy hearing, including Polkey submissions.