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

[KittyCoo]

I’ve been dismissed from my job today due to long term sickness since August last year. I have crohns, ASD, and very severe OCD. I have intrusive thoughts and last summer I declared these to my boss who completely misunderstood me and was worried I’d act on these thoughts shock I told her they caused me immense distress.

Last month, I was confident I’d be able to return to work as I’m finally having CBT and on the right medication, now on an SSRI combined with an anti psychotic. My boss was supporting my return. 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. I then fed this back to my line manager saying I’ll beat this decision as in prove occ health wrong and that I am indeed fit for work. She arranged a meeting with me to discuss suspension and she knew my union rep was on annual leave but decided to go ahead with it anyway!!!

They dismissed me due to long term sickness and not taking into account what’s working well with my mental health!! I’m looking at finding a solicitor as I believe this is unfair dismissal due to my disabilities under the Equality Act 2010. I’ve contacted a few and had a few quotes back.

AIBU by wanting to take legal action and sue them because my OCD is deliberating and because of my ASD I have different communication styles that they’ve completely misunderstood. Do you think this is unfair dismissal ?

im so traumatised by it all and im worried ill be made homeless and have my property repossessed as I’ll have no money and won’t be able to find a future job

arguing over how ocd works is fairly pointless.

I agree with what you say but sadly it is necessary to argue over how OCD works because of the massive misinformation, misunderstanding and stigma there obviously still is around it.

AFAIK Tourette's is more of a neurological thing, but yes, it is similar in that there isn't any desire or intent in it.

Everyone has intrusive thoughts &, if i recall the research findings correctly, these are the same in folks with and without OCD.

What happens in someone with OCD is they react differently to the thought, worry more about it, feel more ashamed, go to greater lengths to ensure it doesn't come true. Then, what starts out as the solution becomes the problem as extra attention to, or trying to push the thought away makes it happen more, compulsions take up time, cause distress and essentially wreck lives.

@SusieSmth4

Off the topic of OCD - having worked in solicitors' firms for many years, can I advise that the 30 minutes free thing is a bit of a myth? Some firms might offer it, but by no means all. I wish people would stop repeating it as if it were widely available.

That confused me, too.

Of course you don't choose to be ill, but that does not in itself mean that your employer has to keep you on. Suppose you had an illness which affected your sight which meant that you could not do a job involving driving - you would not have chosen to be ill, but it would not mean your employer had to keep you in your job.

They need the work to be done and almost certainly can't afford to continue to pay out a salary for little or no work. The law recognises that and allows dismissal in such circumstances.

OP, you say your OCD still takes up most of your day. What do you mean by that?

@Livelovebehappy Yes, I can see that. I'm struggling to follow the details of the employment termination process, and really can't comment on whether it's fair or not. I'm simply trying to correct some substantial misunderstandings about OCD.

Side note: I had to leave work because of OCD. The benefits application process is horrendous, and it's taken me 10 years to get proper help. So I can understand why someone would want to hang on to their job of possible!

Sadly it's quite common for people to recover, either partially or completely, and then relapse again.

Completely agree with this.

Imagine you take your child into nursery and the nursery nurse says to you she has intrusive thoughts of hurting your child in a specific way. I would leave with my child. I wouldn’t go away and educate myself. It’s unreasonable to expect differently from people.

Sadly for you, employers aren't charities. It may feel unfair but they have other employees employment and work load to consider too.

Would you expect that of your manager though or your colleagues?

Argh.
Everyone has "mental health".

You're talking about poor mental health, not "mental health" per se.

I was reading of one girl who had suffered unimaginable distress for years of the form her OCD took. She once saw a young child in a crop top and shorts and ideally thought they were inappropriate for such a young child.

Most of us would dismiss it and get on with our day. But her OCD grabbed a hold of it and made her wonder why she would think such a thing.

So for years she thought she was a deviant. She wouldn't go anywhere where kids were, wouldn't look at pictures in case there was a kid. it completely ruined her life. Until she came forward to break the taboo.

The only people who were empathetic were the ones who had some sort of experience with someone or themselves of OCD. The rest were all 'there is no smoke without fire'. They just saw a danger to children.

It's a lot to ask of people when people share their more taboo intrusive thoughts . It's better to save them and share for the HCP who is looking after you.

How long were you employed for, before you went off sick ?

@gamerchick Obviously not, but I would expect that they either understand, or be willing to educate themselves that intrusive thoughts which are part of OCD are not indicative of desire or intent.

That's especially true of a manager, who has a duty of care towards their employees. Colleagues maybe less so, but there would be an expectation not to stigmatise or discriminate against the sufferer.

Except, if no one talks about it then other sufferers also go for years thinking they are deviant.

The stereotype of OCD is someone cleaning or tidying, so it gets trivialised and people experiencing these taboos thoughts don't realise they have OCD, so they suffer in silence, lose years of their lives and sometimes lose their lives to suicide.

I think as a sufferer it's wise to choose your confidantes carefully. But everyone has a different threshold for what they're willing to share.

OCD thrives on secrecy and telling people they shouldn't share except with HCPs risks perpetuating the stigma.

I thought perhaps the issue with the OCD is that, as OP said, it takes up a lot of her time. If she's sitting for hours at work ruminating because of it, and not doing work tasks, maybe that's the issue?

This, I expect, is the crux of the matter, and arguing over whether the OP would ever act on her intrusive thoughts is a side issue.

If the OP has received all the treatment and medication available, the employer has made reasonable adjustments for her disability. and the OCD is still taking up most of her working day, she fails the capability test, and OH’s conclusion that she’s not fit for work is correct.

Then it’s lawful to dismiss her. The risk she might pose to other employees doesn’t even come into it.

So did you expect to be off for 9 months paid, and them to bend over backwards to accommodate you going forwards? I don’t see how they are in the wrong

Yes I do think you are being unreasonable- you have mental health issues, but that does not mean your employer should be forced to keep you on.
You have already had a year on sickness pay and openly admit OCD takes up a good deal of your day- they would be mad to keep you in their employ, I'm amazed you have not been let go already TBH.

Very possibly. We've gone a bit off piste because some posters were talking as if the thoughts made OP a threat to colleagues, so I felt I had to correct them.

I have a close relative (sadly no longer here) who had severe OCD. The lack of awareness, even amongst health professionals, was unbelievable. Sorry for you, OP. It is disability discrimination but legally, I think you would need support from someone who is broad minded enough to understand the condition.

I've got a close family member who has suffered this extremely distressing condition. I understand what you are saying about the thoughts being extremely distressing to them and I agree.

However I'm still not going to sit in an office with someone who has disclosed thoughts of stabbing me - or let my loved one go to their job where that is the case.

If my loved one disclosed thoughts of stabbing colleagues I would completely understand if colleagues refused to work with them.

The OP has also described "urges to act" which are not in keeping with the "would never act" line being given by people talking about the condition. The people talking about OCD do not know the OP or how her mental health challenges present.

The OP themselves is describing themselves as very ill and OCD taking up a lot of their time so I think they know that they are not well enough to work their job but are understandably feeling distressed about the uncertainty that causes with their income.

I hope you start to feel better very soon OP but I don't think fighting your dismissal will help you get well. The only compromise I can see being useful is if your employer is able to offer anything working from home and if you feel you could do the work from home.

There’s still a limit as to what extent this is the employer’s problem. If the employee still can’t do their job and all reasonable adjustments have been considered then it’s fine to let them go.

Unfortunately some people’s medical issues just aren’t consistent with being able to work and sounds like the OP is in that situation. Of course that’s not the employee’s fault but it’s not the employer’s either.

Also OP if you can’t cope with an admin job how well do you think you’ll be able to cope with the ET process? That’s hardly a walk in the park and stress free. Chances are your employer will lawyer up so unless you also get representation you’ll likely very quickly be out of your depth. And as I mentioned above you could be looking at 2028/29 for a hearing. How’s this going to help your mental health?