NHS manager Linda Sturdy has won £147,000 for age discrimination, including £29,500 for injury to feelings, and £5,000 for aggravated damages as well as loss of earnings.
Linda Sturdy had been 56 when she was passed over for a job running breast screening services, and the Tribunal found this was due to her approaching retirement age. A 43 year-old got the job instead. Her manager had said he did not realise how old she was when she said she would be retiring in 2010.
One would normally imagine that in a case like this, an award for injury to feelings would be at the lower end of the scale. However according to reports, she was threatened with the sack if she did not take a more junior position, and was then dismissed. The Tribunal Judge commented that managers had been 'malicious and insulting' in accusing her of not making her claims of age discrimination in good faith and had failed to carry out an unbiased investigation into her claims which was 'high-handed, insulting and oppressive'.
In other words, the Trust appear to have made things much worse by how they dealt with the complaint. The award for injury to feelings is still extremely high, and is unlikely to set be replicated in many Tribunals. The aggravated damages of £5,000 was for the high-handed, insulting and malicious way the Trust handled her grievances. The award for loss of earnings was probably on the high side due to the difficulty Ms Sturdy would have securing alternative suitable alternative employment before retiring. The lesson here is to always handle grievances in a dispassionate and objective manner, even if you think they have no foundation. When in a hole, stop digging!
Source: Emplaw. BBC. Daily Mail
James Carmody
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