An admin worker who was told to return to the office at the start of the pandemic - despite isolating because her husband had cancer - has won an unfair dismissal case.
Bridget Regnante said she was “terrified” of catching coronavirus and giving it to her husband Guiseppe Regnante.
But an employment tribunal heard she was forced to go back into the office - despite being able to do the “majority” of her work from home.
After being told to return or take unpaid leave, Mrs Regnante resigned and an employment tribunal has now ruled she was unfairly forced out.
A judge ruled her bosses did not apply “common sense” to Covid guidance.
The tribunal heard Mrs Regnante worked as an administrator for Essex Care Limited which provided care and equipment to people in their homes.
Her husband Guiseppe Regnante had been diagnosed with stomach cancer in 2018 and had his spleen and stomach removed.
Due to this, he had a weakened immune system and was declared clinically vulnerable, the hearing was told.
When the pandemic first hit in March 2020, Mrs Regnante was “alarmed” by the risk to her husband and the pair even divided their house in two.
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Her bosses initially allowed her to work from home and the tribunal heard she could do 85% of her usual role.
But in April 2020, Mrs Regnante was called in to do an evening shift for the call centre at the office where she was based in Worthing, West Sussex.
After the shift, she sent her boss Lawrence King an email saying she was "terrified" of giving her husband Covid.
Mrs Regnante was then told she could not keep working at home because other administrative workers within the company were required to go in.
The tribunal heard Mr King pointed out that Mrs Regnante drove with her husband to Brentwood, Essex, to fix a problem with her internet that was affecting her ability to work.
He said: “When I asked who will be taking her, she confirmed that her husband, who is shielding, will be driving her to Essex. This is very concerning considering they should not be leaving their home.”
But the tribunal ruled: “Mr King’s comments appear to suggest he felt she was exaggerating the problem with her husband and so there was no good reason why she could not return to the office.”
Mr King then gave Mrs Regnante an “ultimatum” of either going into the office to work, taking 12 weeks of unpaid leave or living in a hotel while going in.
Mrs Regnante “reluctantly” resigned in order to protect her husband from “any risks that attending the office would entail”.
Employment Judge Eoin Fowell ruled she was effectively unfairly sacked.
Judge Fowell said: “The company appears to us more concerned with fairness arguments, which essentially boil down to asking, ‘Why should she get away with being at home?’
“Their own guidance should have been given a common sense interpretation in line with the general position of the country.
“They also seem to have adopted a strict interpretation of it, and taken the view that unless she could do absolutely all her work from home, she needed to be in the office. That does not seem to be justified.”
At the employment tribunal, held remotely, Mrs Regnante won her claims of unfair dismissal and suffering a detriment at work on health and safety grounds.
She is now in line for compensation and a remedy hearing is set to take place on May 9.
