Claimant v Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust

The tribunal found the Respondent breached its s.20 duty in relation to the second element of the third PCP (requirement to attend informal meetings with management at short notice). Ms Dudgeon should have provided advance written confirmation of the purpose of the meeting on 10 June 2022 to allow the Claimant to prepare, rather than describing it as a general catch up. This was a simple adjustment that could have given the Claimant a prospect of avoiding dysregulation. All other alleged reasonable adjustment failures were rejected.

Section 15 claims failed because in relation to the first claim the 'something arising' (resignation) post-dated the alleged unfavourable treatment, making causation impossible. In relation to the second claim (medical suspension), the tribunal found suspension was not unfavourable treatment and in any event was justified as proportionate to the legitimate aims of managing risk to the Claimant and others.

The tribunal found the Claimant had not established unwanted conduct related to disability that violated her dignity or created a hostile environment. Ms Dudgeon's conduct at the 10 June 2022 meeting was reasonable. The medical suspensions were related to disability but it was unreasonable for the Claimant to feel her dignity was violated given the legitimate concerns about risk following her mental health crisis on 10 June 2022 when she screamed loudly in the archive room.

The tribunal found the Respondent did not breach the implied term of trust and confidence. The Claimant resigned citing delays in the grievance appeal, but objectively there was no unreasonable delay by Ms Massey who kept the Claimant informed throughout. The outcome was imminent when the Claimant resigned on 5 March 2023. The Claimant resigned prematurely and the Respondent had not acted without reasonable and proper cause.