David Barrow was awarded over £2.5 million after making an unfair dismissal claim when he was sacked following emails he wrote while under the influence of steroids.
The story
For 36 years, David worked at a senior level at Kellogg, Brown and Root (KBR), a science, technology and engineering firm.
In 2017, he started experiencing symptoms of what later turned out to be a rare form of cancer. He was initially treated with oral steroids – these can have mood-altering side effects and cause the patient to see things that don’t exist.
After 10 days of treatment, the drug had made David uncharacteristically hyperactive to the extent that his secretary suggested several times that he should calm down and take it easy.
While he was in this state, David wrote an angry email to his manager, Andrew Barrie, complaining about a ‘promotion’ he’d received without any increase in pay.
Andrew forwarded the email to the HR director for the EMEA region, Tim Rosbrook, and HR director, Sid Brettell, who referred David to occupational health and advised him to take some time off.
Occupational health concluded that David’s main cause for stress could be dealt with by management. His GP confirmed he would be fit to work once the steroids had left his system.
A couple of weeks later, David attended a review meeting with Andrew. However, David considered this meeting was ‘rushed’, and felt his concerns ‘were dismissed’ in a subsequent email exchange.
Soon after that, David was sacked. No reason was given, and David was told he had 20 minutes to leave the building. He was then escorted out with his personal belongings.
He subsequently submitted a formal grievance and attended a meeting with senior vice president, Martin Simmonite. This led to a formal dismissal on the grounds of “a breakdown of trust and confidence”.
David then took the case to the employment tribunal, where the judge concluded that Martin’s investigation was a “sham” to “give the impression the process of dismissal was fair”.
David was awarded £2,567,831.96 which included a rare aggravated damages award because his employer had attempted a coverup.
- There was a connection between the emails and David’s disability and so the claim of disability discrimination was upheld
- The dismissal itself was unwanted conduct related to disability, as such, it qualified as an act of harassment
What this means to you
If you have been dismissed, your employer should have a proper reason to do so and follow a proper process when they do it.
If they don’t, you may be able to claim compensation. The amount you receive could be greater if they have deliberately tried to pretend they did do things the right way when they didn’t, as shown in this case.
Further reading
- Unfair dismissal: Is it too late for me to claim?
- How do I claim for unfair dismissal?
- How is unfair dismissal compensation calculated?
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