A prison worker has won almost £135,000 at an employment tribunal after he was sacked while off sick due to his mental health. Mark Edwards was signed off work for 330 days due to stress after his grievances against managers were not dealt with, an employment tribunal heard.
The hearing was told Mr Edwards, who worked in an administrative role, was left feeling upset after one manager - Brian Ward - told him he could not use his mother's cancer diagnosis as an excuse for being late to work. When Mr Edwards refused to return to work at HMP Cardiff until the grievances had been resolved, he was sacked by governor Danny Khan.
He appealed but this was unsuccessful and then sued the Secretary State for Justice. Now, he is in line to receive £134,446.93 in compensation for unfair dismissal and discrimination.
In 2001, Mr Edwards worked as an assistant officer at HMP Cardiff, handling complaints. The tribunal heard he had a 'strained' relationship his manager, Kevin Skinner.
Additionally, the day after Mr Edwards' mother's cancer diagnosis in October 2016, he came into work late and was upset by Mr Ward's 'hurtful' comment, the tribunal was told.
The panel heard: "Mr Ward said, 'you’re using your mother’s condition to make excuses'. Mr Ward accepts he used words to the effect 'you can’t use your mother’s condition as an excuse' (for late attendance)." In fact, Mr Edwards had raised four grievances - including one about the comment - against the two managers, the panel was told.
But these had not been resolved and he later made a total of three applications to an employment tribunal in 2016, 2017 and 2018, the tribunal heard. After having an emergency appendectomy and suffering complications during surgery, he came back to work for a short while in 2016.
But Mr Edwards was then signed off for almost a year with stress. The hearing was told an occupational health report initially found workplace issues and grievances were the reason behind his absence.
HMP Cardiff was struggling with the amount of staff off sick in October so Mr Khan attempted to get Mr Edwards back at work. But when Mr Khan found a date for his return to work 'unforeseeable' - despite Mr Edwards saying he was waiting for the tribunal result - he was fired.
The hearing was told that by the time Mr Edwards appealed this decision, the Secretary State for Justice knew Mr Edwards was classified a disabled person due to his mental state, yet his appeal was still dismissed. He has now successfully made claims for discrimination and unfair dismissal and has been awarded the six figure sum in compensation.
Employment Judge Sian Davies concluded: "This medical opinion appears not to have affected their decision-making, which is puzzling in circumstances where the medical view had changed. Whilst a doctor’s opinion on disability is not definitive it carries weight as an expert opinion, otherwise there seems little point asking the question when seeking [occupational health] advice."
