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

Hi OP

As someone who 'recovered' / is in 'remission' from OCD a long time ago (I'm autistic and it was a significant issue for me) please don't listen to the people here who don't really understand what it is and how hard it is to live with.

For the record, someone with MH difficulties is far more likely to be the victim than the perpetrator of violence.

Anyway, you should think very carefully about any impact of pursuing your employer for unfair dismissal. These are not easy cases to bring and the toll on your mental health might not be good for you. You're the important person here. Your employer has made you feel unacknowledged and invalidated. I understand why you would want to set the record straight, however, I believe you're far more likely to do this in therapy than you are in a tribunal setting.

In the meantime, I would encourage you to make sure that you're getting the financial support you need, and that includes PIP.

I hear you. And sorry that you've been put through this.

In the kindest possible way, are you able to work? I ask because I’m not, I’ve sought ill health retirement which has been granted for me, and hoped this may help you to get some income?! Good luck with whatever you can do. If you haven’t already, speak to the CAB , x

It does not matter. If someone is off sick, they should not be pressured to feel bad for their colleagues that are picking up the slack (if any... agency staff are a thing).

If you ran a business would you be happy to pay 7 months salary to someone who wasn't turning up due to a treatable and manageable illness? come on this is taking the piss. OP should have thought about her mortgage before taking more than half a year off.

I have been off sick for 9 months+ at a time.

Must be nice to be able to pay all your bills on only £100 per week SSP.

"long term sickness since August last year" (so off for over 7 months"

"...occ health deemed me unfit to work due to my OCD still taking up a lot of my day..."

"They dismissed me due to long term sickness and not taking into account what’s working well with my mental health!!"

There seems to be a slight confusion in the original post.
You've been off for over 7 months, OH has deemed you unfit to return due to your "OCD still taking up a lot of your day"

What did your dismissal letter actually say? because your employer apparently has an OH report saying you are unfit for work, and that (the being unfit for work part) would normally be the reason for dismissal.
Did they perhaps mention something more like long term sickness with no likelihood of return in a reasonable timescale, for example, or other context in the dismissal letter; as it would seem unusual for an employer to have an OH report that says an employee is "unfit for work" but then give the dismissal reason of "long term sick"

As others have said, it is possible to be dismissed fairly on capability grounds if the person is unfit for work due to a disability - assuming the correct process has been followed etc...

You could well end up taking multiple months off for ay sort of illness.
Stay humble.

They haven’t sacked you because of your disabilities, op. They’ve let you go because you’re unable to do the job as required.
Being disabled does not mean you get a free pass to remain in a job you can’t actually do, they’ve done absolutely nothing wrong.

Some of it was unpaid but the majority was full pay, half pay or income protection payments.

I am just glad i don’t work with you.

My best friend was let go from her job about 10 years ago, and still gets paid under the income protection scheme.

Huh… no wonder a big complaint I see here is about wage stagnation.

Sorry all… will go back to waiting for the OP to answer pertinent questions

If you're serious, then I feel sorry for the companies you worked for.

I'm not trying to be goady, but that kind of practice is absolutely unsustainable for companies.

Mine covers me til state retirement age so it is a very good employment benefit.

99.9% of businesses in the UK are SMEs. Median profit for an SME in the UK is £13,000 to £70,000 per year. Please explain to me how on earth they are supposed to fund the level of employee sickness that is referred to on here?
Oh and @MrsMigginsBrunch? You are either on the wind up or you “worked” or not as it happens, in the public sector.

Its not illegal to sack someone with a disability, its illegal to sack someone because of their disability.

You aren't capable of doing the job and have been off for a huge amount of time, they can't be expected to keep you on the payroll indefinitely.

This is so dishonest and gross to brag about, esp when AI is taking peoples jobs and young people can't get a job. There are people who actually want to work and deserve jobs.

Neither.

I’m really not bragging. I’d rather have been well and not had to take time off.

These are the sorts of candidates getting chosen for jobs over you, guys.

Just remember that.

You are getting a lot of hate on here, but I can understand where you are coming from.
There was a thread on here recently where it was obvious that not many people knew about income protection schemes.
Like you, my bestie will be sorted until retirement too. It was a perk of her job (and I imagine yours too)... a massive multinational company... not the NHS or similar.

Unwell for 10 years. Come on, we're all curious, can you not elaborate and tell us a bit more about how this even happened? Sounds like something you would read about in a tabloid. Was this all the same company?

Hi OP, I don’t know about the legal side of this but just to say you have my real sympathies with OCD. I developed it after the birth of my second child (different type of OCD, mine involves a ridiculous amount of checking things) and I’m only now on the road to getting some CBT. It’s exhausting. And if you’ve never been through it you just cannot understand what it’s like to not trust your own mind.

I know it’s all done now but just to say you definitely shouldn’t have felt under pressure to tell your boss the nature of your OCD. It’s very personal and hard to explain. Dont feel the need to do that in the future, it’s enough to say you’ve got OCD, it’s not for others to judge.