A former council chief who suffered PTSD after working with the bereaved families of the Grenfell Tower fire has been awarded a record £4.6m payout after suing her bosses.
The London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham was ordered to pay compensation and damages to Rachael Wright-Turner for disability discrimination and harassment after she was sacked from her £125,000-a-year role.
The employment tribunal ruling – which found senior officials at the Labour-run authority had lied in evidence – is believed to be the highest order ever against a public body.
Last night Mrs Wright-Turner, 52, said that while she acknowledged the sum was ‘substantial’, she had never wanted to go to court.
The six-year legal battle had destroyed her life, her family and her health, she added.
The London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham was ordered to pay compensation and damages to Rachael Wright-Turner (pictured) for disability discrimination and harassment after she was sacked from her £125,000-a-year role.
The employment tribunal ruling – which found senior officials at the Labour-run authority had lied in evidence – is believed to be the highest order ever against a public body. Pictured: Grenfell Tower
Last night Mrs Wright-Turner, 52, said that while she acknowledged the sum was ‘substantial’, she had never wanted to go to court. Pictured: A firefighter at the Grenfell Tower fire
Wright-Turner told The Mail on Sunday: ‘This case has cost us everything, before it started I was married with two children at private school.
‘Now my marriage is broken, I’m fighting to keep my house from being repossessed and my children are devastated after being forced out of their schools. My income has been taken away – we have literally been living on the breadline and receiving donations from food banks and charities.’
Wright-Turner was dismissed from her role as director of public service reform in Hammersmith and Fulham in 2018 after taking sick leave for post-traumatic stress disorder.
She had developed PTSD while working at Kensington and Chelsea Council as a ‘humanitarian aid manager’ with those affected by the Grenfell fire which killed 72 people.
She said it left ‘a movie’ of the tragedy in her head.
Wright-Turner then moved to Hammersmith and Fulham.
She was dismissed from work after a meeting with superiors in a pub triggered her PTSD. She had a panic attack and was rushed to the hospital.
Following this incident on May 2, 2018, senior council officers made the untrue claim to colleagues that she had been drunk before being taken to A&E, the tribunal heard.
Separately, Mrs Wright-Turner had been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), the court heard.
After hearing of the diagnosis, the council’s former chief executive Kim Smith said Ms Wright-Turner’s brain ‘doesn’t work like other people’s’.
Ms Smith also asked whether Ms Wright-Turner had disclosed her ADHD when she was recruited.
She was dismissed while on sick leave without the opportunity to discuss or challenge the decision.
The court ruled Ms Smith and the council’s then HR director lied to the tribunal that Ms Wright-Turner was informed earlier on the day she was admitted to hospital that her probation was to be extended.
It was concluded that Mrs Smith made the decision a day later when it was understood she wanted to take leave for her mental health.
Ms Smith and HR director Mark Grimley also conspired to doctor her dismissal letter to appear to have been signed before she launched a complaint against the council, it was concluded.
No mention was made of her PTSD or ADHD in her termination letter ‘to avoid any inference that this decision was in any way linked to the claimant’s mental health or related sickness absences’, the tribunal panel said.
Wright-Turner said: ‘I don’t think they understood how closely I had worked with the families in the wake of Grenfell. They treated my PTSD like I was acting like some kind of drama queen.’
She was aware of the cost of her award to council tax payers but said she had no choice but to try to clear her name.
Wright-Turner was dismissed from her role as director of public service reform in Hammersmith and Fulham in 2018 after taking sick leave for post-traumatic stress disorder. Pictured: The remains of Grenfell Tower
She said: “From the public’s point of view this award will seem a huge amount but I would give every penny of this award back if it hadn’t happened – I thought I would just walk away with a severance payment but they would have me to go without a penny.
The price of £4.6 million corresponds to £25 per Hammersmith and Fulham resident. If the payment is not made by the end of this month, it will accrue 8 per cent interest per annum, which equates to £302,500.
Peter Daly, of law firm Doyle Clayton, who represented Ms Wright-Turner, said the award reflected the ‘serious harm’ she suffered as a result of Hammersmith and Fulham’s ‘unlawful behaviour’.
Hammersmith and Fulham said it was ‘deeply saddened’ by the ordeal Ms Wright-Turner has suffered but will appeal the decision as it has ‘always considered’ her claim to be ‘grossly exaggerated, contentious and highly unprecedented’ ‘.