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

Yes agreed. I’m fairly sure that legally they couldn’t fire someone with OCD purely for saying they had thoughts about harming others, because of all the reasons mentioned above.

But once they know someone has OCD and has spoken to someone in their HR/other relevant dept then they will know.

I agree. But if the new nursery attendant tells you they're having intrusive thoughts about abusing your child once you leave? Could you really ignore it?

If you have a case then go for it.
I wish I pursued it when I was let go for long term sickness. I was suspended for being suicidal. I text my friend a worrying message and because they were also a colleague, I was suspended. My boss had my text printed out in massive font on paper, and was so "proud" to show me it.
I worked in a hospital. I self harmed, was never a harm to anyone else but was forced onto leave because my cock of a manager had it in his head that I would go round slicing into patients. And he told me that too.

Why would these people even know? It’s highly unlikely unless there was some kind of confidentiality breach.

But your employer does not know that you won’t act on your impulsive thoughts and she has the safety of her other employees to think of.

Only until you have confirmed that they OCD.

But what about the mental wellbeing of others, faced with someone who has thoughts of attacking someone, yet having to put their faith and trust into that person not to act in them. It’s a big ask.

I think everyone gets that… at the same time you have to treat everyone who verbalizes it the same way.

There’s some really big misunderstandings about OCD here. Yes it’s possible that someone with the illness might act upon an intrusive thought, but they are less likely to do that than other people without OCD.

Yes, they should. If you read the post before yours, @LifeOfAShowgirl13 explains it.

Are you actually doing any work when in the office? You state OCD takes over your day. So if you’re constantly having to leave your desk to manage your OCD symptoms, it’s hardly fair on the company to continue to employ someone who has been off for 7 months, and even when they return, they’re not getting any work done. Sad that you’re ill OP, but surely you don’t expect a business to keep you on their payroll indefinitely when you’re not being productive.

Everyone has weird intrusive thoughts that pop into their head that they don’t act on, that’s just the human brain- are we going to become thought police? The point is, if someone with OCD had thoughts of harming their pupils, they are much less likely to harm the pupils than someone who doesn’t have OCD. They are horrified by even the thought of the harm, let alone doing something harmful. People with OCD are not psychotic and can control their actions.

But that’s not what happened in the OP’s own words.

This should have been directed to @PoppinjayPolly… shit nevermiind I had it right the first time… sorry!

They can be removed from the workplace.

This isn’t the same as sacking.

again, if they are judged unfit to perform their job after reasonable adjustments, that is a legitimate reason to sack them.

Sacking them because you think that they pose harm to your workforce, even through you know they have an illnesses that causes these thoughts, is not legitimate

I agree that the initial disclosure of thinking about harming a colleague is not the issue at hand, though understandably distressing for all involved, op included.

The issue is that you are not fit to work, and you acknowledge yourself that you see no end in sight. How long do you think you should remain employed but not carrying out the role?

What about the well-being of the rest of the staff?
”well yes, Janet- I know Tom has shared that he has thoughts of harming you, am sure he doesnt mean it!”
if a teacher had recurrent thoughts about harming their pupils due to OCD, should they be kept in post?

That would show a real misunderstanding of OCD given the research indicates people with intrusive, ego-dystonic thoughts about harming others are actually less likely to be violent towards others.

You state here you are very unwell. Not were unwell. Are.

How does the time it takes from your day manifest? Are you carrying out your workplace duties daily?

I think the threat is a bit of a red herring... I'm still trying to figure out what this means
"But then a week later she decided to place me on medical suspension without any prior warning because occ health deemed me unfit to work due to my OCD still taking up a lot of my day. "

@KittyCoo can you elaborate? It doesn't seem that the initial knife thing was the cause of the termination instead it's the bold bit above.

You've been off for 9 months (while on statutory sick pay and presumably getting PIP?) and you're surprised they dismissed you? Come on. this is not what the tribunal system is for. Being diagnosed with ocd isn't a shield against consequences for everything in life.

And if you didn’t allow them to return once you had consulted someone who actually knows about OCD, you would be acting in a discriminatory manner.

Three YEARS? What business can support that level of absence?