Unfairly dismissed worker awarded £6,000

10:00am Friday 5th December 2008

A KIDDERMINSTER former fund-raiser for the disabled has been awarded more than £6,000 after a Birmingham Employment Tribunal decided she had been unfairly dismissed.

Clare Cassidy, of Birmingham Road, made her claim against Leonard Cheshire Disabilty, a London-based national organisation.

Ms Cassidy worked for the project for more than four years, mainly from home, and was described as a good, efficient worker.

She faced changes, however, under a restructuring scheme and had an application for a more senior post rejected. She was eventually made redundant.

Ms Cassidy said she feared she was not going to get the new job within the organisation and believed they wanted to get rid of her.

That was denied by the management, which said the redundancy selection process had been carried out in a fair manner. As a result, the organisation opposed her claim for unair dismissal.

The management also alleged Ms Cassidy had not been interested about redeployment elsewhere.

Tribunal chairman, Ron Ashton, said the tribunal panel accepted there had been a genuine redundancy situation as a result of the restructuring.

Ms Cassidy, alleged, however, she had been marginalised and had difficulty adapting to the changes.

Mr Ashton said that despite the organisation carrying out consultations over the redundancy situation, the tribunal believed not enough consideration had been given to find her another role.

Because of the that, the tribunal decision was that she had been unfairly dismissed and she was awarded a total of £6,057.

Mr Ashton said that the state benefits paid to Ms Cassidy during her unemployment following her dismissal would be deducted from the amount awarded.