AIBU to consider legal action after dismissal for long-term sickness?

Some people are just never going to get it no matter how many times it's explained to them are they!

OP you keep going around in circles. No one dismisses your mental health or your feelings. But let's be logical. You have been off for 7 months. You returned to work but on your return you would be expected to have found a solution by now. This is not car accident. Is a sickness that you had time to find a way to navigate or have a plan in place achievable and measurable. I promise you I don't put any blame on you nor do I judge you. But if when you return to work your ocd is still taking a big chunk of your work day how likely it is you will get better and you will work at full capacity? How long should they wait? Is not realistic OP they also have to take into consideration whether your emplyment is benefiting the company. At the moment and I apologise to use this horrible word but you are a liability. From their point of view. And is fair, if you didn't get what you need from your job or if they would cut a chunk of your wages you would leave as well. I am not sure if it makes sense for you. There will be jobs that you would be able to perform succesfully but this is no longer it. Don't waste your money with solicitors they would have gone through that contract with a fine tooth comb by their legal team to make sure it won't come back to bite them in the ass. Concentrate on your mental health and your recovery, the perfect job is out there somewhere.

The employer needs occ health to give a workplace assessment they need to do their own checks so it doesnt matter what op psychiatrist says.
If they went purely off that person's word, and if absence persists or there was an issue, employer could be in trouble for not following process.

Exactly. These would be the same ones outraged over people with mental health struggles being on benefits and not in work wouldn't they!

As has been said before, and by OP’s psychiatrist, they don’t pose a risk.

Thsnk you very much for helping me to clarify the reasons why I was dismissed were unfair and explaining that it’s illegal to sack someone with a disability

It is not illegal to sack someone with a disability. You cannot dismiss someone because they have a disability, but in simple terms, if that disability renders them incapable of performing their duties and a fair, legal process has been followed, they can absolutely be dismissed.

You say that you have been off sick for seven months, and OH have assessed you as unfit for work. Broadly, those seem like reasonable grounds to dismiss someone.

my psychiatrist has confirmed it not dangerous to my boss but she’s still having none of it!!!

The reason they've given you for dismissal isn't that you pose a danger to anyone, it's that you've had too much time off and likely won't be fit to return within a reasonable time frame.

To earn money.

But why would you still want this job? It’s not working.

Exact occ health report wording will help us advise. What the report actually say about a return??

You can however dismiss that person if, after a risk assessment, it is deemed they pose a risk to others - that is not discrimination, its health and safety.

I'm an employer, and there is no way I would continue to employ someone who had intrusive thoughts and urges to act to harm others in the work place due to MH issues - run it through a risk matrix, you will only get one answer.

You need to speak to your union
If they think you have a case, they will support you through it. That is what you pay your subs for you don't need to pay another lawyer.
Your rep should have contacted your employer to ask for a different date, or got a colleague to cover your meeting for them. You have the right to be accompanied by a union rep to a meeting which is likely to result in dismissal.

I think your union is best placed to give you an honest assessment of whether you have a case to take forwards.

I suspect it will come down to the occ health assessment and whether you were likely to be fit to return in a reasonable timeframe.

Start with your union or ACAS before you spend money on a solicitor

I just want to wish you well. OCD touches a few in my wider family and I appreciate you bringing it more into the open. It’s a tortuous illness. It can be adapted but it needs a heck of a lot of staying power and determination. You have that. I wish you strength and hope you can find some release as well as justice.

Even if you have a case (which you need to get expert advice on -nobody on this thread can confirm the status of your claim) don’t underestimate the enormity of trying to take on an employer who decides to fight back.

If you MH is already fragile is this the right thing for you to do. It can involve months or even years of stress. I know a couple of people who have successfully done this and the process was long and hard.

If you are lucky they might pay something to make this go away but they might put you through a process where your fitness to work will be scrutinised. They may actively seek to prove you are unfit to do the role. It could be a pyrrhic victory if you damage your MH in trying to prove them wrong about your MH.

It isn’t illegal to sack someone with a disability though. You can’t dismiss someone purely because they have a disability, but you can dismiss them if after providing support, including the employee having 7 months off work and OH deeming the employee to still be unfit for work, the employee isn’t able to return.
Take the case of someone, eg a physics professor in a University, who suffers a traumatic brain injury that results in severe global cognitive decline so much so that they are now having to go into residential care. By your argument, the employer cannot dismiss them because they now are disabled. But how can that employee ever be expected to return to their job?

The OP wouldn’t want them to do that though

Im sorry you are so unwell OP. Having intrusive thoughts like this must be very debilitating and frightening. You do sound very poorly and I hope that with the right medication and support you will start to recover and feel better.

As gently as possible I think your employer hasnt done anything wrong. Occ health have assessed you as unfit for work after a prolonged sickness absence of 7 months. If there is no more that can be done in terms of a reasonable adjustment and occ health have said you are too unwell to be at work then a dismissal on the grounds of capability doesnt sound unreasonable. I am sorry and I know that must be very difficult to accept at the moment...

True but they will give the OP an honest appraisal of the situation which is just what she needs. There is no point pursuing a claim if there isn’t a good chance of winning because it will be so stressful.

Unions won’t fund hopeless cases.

Unions only provide legal support if they believe there is a case to answer. If they look at all the facts then decide there is no case to answer, that’s that.

Really? Don’t think so but that made me laugh.

Yes, the union will be on your side and not just after your money like a solicitor

That's not what I meant. What I meant is you're giving manic phase of bipolar vibes.

Not to throw the cat amongst the pigeons
...
...but for all those posters who may previously have commented on thread about ...oooh disability benefits and disabled people working and how mental illness is not an "excuse" per say, for example....and are perhaps saying the OP should not be working....do you still feel the same way people claiming benefits with severe mental illness? 🤔

Cos apparently they should but also should not work...