An admin worker has won more than £15,000 after her bosses demanded she return to the office at the start of the covid pandemic despite isolating because her husband had cancer. Bridget Regnante said she was ‘terrified’ of catching coronavirus and giving it to her ‘clinically extremely vulnerable’ husband and the pair had even divided their house in two.
An employment tribunal heard she could do the ‘majority’ of her job working from home but bosses insisted she had to go in for ‘fairness and equality’ as they felt she was ‘exaggerating’ the problem with her husband. After being given an ultimatum of either returning or taking unpaid leave, Mrs Regnante resigned.
The tribunal ruled she was unfairly forced out as her bosses did not apply ‘common sense’ to Covid guidance with a judge finding she was forced to choose between her husband's health and her job. Mrs Regnante has now been awarded £15,760.32 in compensation for unfair dismissal.
