In the case of Miss J Panahian-Jand v Barts Health NHS Trust a paediatric nurse who complained about alleged racial discrimination and was banned from booking shifts as a result has been awarded £26,000 in compensation by an employment tribunal.
Miss Panahian-Jand, a bank nurse at Whipps Cross Hospital in East London, was “unlawfully victimised” by staff at Barts Health NHS Trust after she suggested that shifts and work tasks were divided along racial lines.
The tribunal found that her complaint had amounted to a protected disclosure and that she had suffered detrimental treatment after raising the issue.
Employment judge Samantha Moor said: “We consider that by restricting her ability to book shifts on Acorn ward the Trust both subject the claimant to a detriment and… treated her less favourably than other bank staff by not making available to her offers of that work. But for the restriction she would have been offered work.
“In our judgment this is a classic case of an employer treating far too severely a person who had raised allegations because they had done so. This is contrary to the expressed aims of its own whistleblowing policy.”
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