A senior recruiter has been awarded almost £188,000 after being sacked over health issues.
Darron Blewitt, a director at Leeds-based Mach Recruitment, was successful in his claim for unfair dismissal and disability discrimination after he was cast aside by his employer “in a perfunctory way”, said the judge at a tribunal in Cambridge.
On 7 February 2020, Blewitt had a cardiac arrest which left him with a hypoxic brain injury. While he recovered his mobility and speech over the following weeks, his memory and cognitive skills had been adversely affected. He also experienced significant fatigue and anxiety, the tribunal heard.
He returned to work in October 2020, at which point workplaces and working practices had changed significantly as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. On Blewitt’s own evidence, his impaired memory and other cognitive issues meant this was a particularly challenging transition for him.
On 29 September 2022, Blewitt was dismissed. He did not receive payment for his notice period.
Blewitt had worked as the southern regional operations director for Mach and had described himself as a workaholic. Yet after his return to the organisation, the tribunal heard he had been left to his own devices and expected to get on with the job.
Katie Barrett, the employer’s head of HR, was accused of frequently cancelling meetings with Blewitt and also ignoring emails from occupational health regarding his treatment.
Eventually Barrett contacted Blewitt to say he would be let go after a decision to reduce headcount in the senior team, the tribunal was told. The tribunal heard that on 27 September 2022 Blewitt was contacted by Barrett who informed him that he would be dismissed following a decision to reduce headcount in the senior team.
This was attributed to a downturn in business, but “there was no suggestion that it was a tentative proposal in respect of which there would be a period of consultation,” found the judge.
When Blewitt asked Barrett whether this meant redundancy, the call was ended, with Barrett telling the claimant that she would call him back. They did not then speak again until 29 September 2022, when Barrett set up a Teams call during which she told Blewitt that he was being dismissed with immediate effect by reason of ill-health.
In his ruling, tribunal judge Roger Tynan said Blewitt was dismissed because the organisation found his health issues time-consuming and difficult to manage, and was unwilling to invest the necessary time and effort in that regard.
He added that the fact that it never documented its concerns in writing, failed to document or minute any meetings or discussions with Blewitt and did not even confirm his dismissal in writing, “pointed to an organisation that was entirely neglectful of its responsibilities in the matter”.
He said that Blewitt appeared to be viewed as an inconvenience to the business and that “stereotypical assumptions were made regarding his ongoing ability to perform his role and contribute.”
Mach Recruitment did not attend or engage with the tribunal after the organisation’s initial response was rejected.
