An M&S worker successfully sued the company for sacking her when she went off sick after confronting a maskless shopper. Deborah Daisy was verbally abused by the 'aggressive' man while working for the retail giant in November 2020, an employment tribunal heard.
The hearing was told this 'traumatic' event affected her mental health and brought back past incidents, namely an armed robbery and her chasing a shoplifter out of the shop to a bus stop. Mrs Daisy had not received training in dealing with crime, the panel was told, and she went off sick for five months with anxiety and depression caused by safety at work fears.
The tribunal heard that during this time, Mrs Daisy complained about M&S' 'lack of action' over the incidents and that she still felt 'vulnerable' being in store. She was then sacked after M&S concluded there were no adjustments that could be made to facilitate her return to work, so she launched a claim for unfair dismissal at an employment tribunal.
