A mental heath trust has been accused of sacking a manager while he was suffering from a depressive illness.John Lobley, from Barrowford, had worked for a number of years as research and development manager for Clitheroe-based Calderstones NHS Trust, an employment tribunal heard.
He accepted that his performance had suffered after his son-in-law died suddenly in 2004, closely followed by his mother's health deteroriating, requiring him to place her in full-time care, the tribunal heard.
Disciplinary action was launched by the NHS trust in early 2006, after he was accused of departing early on a regular basis and a string of unauthorised absences.
He expected to be punished - but not sacked, the hearing was told. Mr Lobley has taken Calderstones to an industrial tribunal, claiming unfair dismissal.
Mr Lobley's counsel, David Humphreys, described the disciplinary process which led to his client's dismissal as an "industrial relations obscenity." The claimant exhibited to his employers the symptoms of a depressive illness and in my submission they ignored it", said Mr Humphreys.
"This is an NHS trust, with a human resources department, and it is almost incredible that they did not do something about it."
An initial disciplinary hearing, chaired by the-then acting finance director David Young, decided that Mr Lobley should be dismissed, the tribunal heard. Then a subsequent appeal hearing, led by Russ Pearce, the trust's chief executive, reaffirmed that decision, the tribunal heard.
The tribunal was told that the system was clearly unfair - as Mr Pearce, who reaffirmed the sacking decision, was responsible for instigating the disciplinary procedure in the first place.
Giving evidence earlier about the impact of the disciplinary hearing, Mr Lobley said: "I just thought they would have looked after me and taken into account the work I had done for the trust in the past."
Mr Humphreys added: "The claimant absented himself from work and all they could think about was the effect."
One comment made to him during the appeal hearing, when his depression was highlighted as a possible contributory factor to his behaviour, was that he "was not alone in that", the tribunal heard.
He claimed that he had been given permission to work from home on Thursdays and Fridays - but conceded that he had often left early on other days.
Ed Morgan, Calderstones' counsel, told the hearing that Mr Lobley's line manager, John Caldwell had arrived at his office frequently to discuss work and not been able to locate him. Mr Caldwell, in his evidence to the tribunal, denied there had been an agreement over home working between the pair.
The three-strong panel reserved a final decision on the case until a date to be fixed.
Source: http://www.lancashireeveningtelegraph.co.uk
