A nurse who was deliberately left out of a tea round and was consistently ignored by a colleague has won £41,000 for constructive dismissal.

Susan Hamilton worked as a diabetes specialist at Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust and resigned in January 2022, citing “cruel bullying behaviours” and poor management.

One of the key incidents cited in the tribunal ruling was in September 2018 when a patient had experienced severe “hypos” (low blood sugar) and collapsed at home.

Hamilton worked alongside Mr Nayeck, a dietitian in the same team, but they had a difficult working relationship. They disagreed on how best to treat the patient in question, and Nayeck asked if she was questioning his competency. She said she was, arguing that the patient’s safety could be at risk.

Constructive dismissal

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Their line manager, Mrs Jupp, agreed that her clinical assessment had been correct and suggested Nayeck needed to address a learning issue so it did not happen again – Jupp also suggested Hamilton apologise to Nayeck for her tone.

After this, the tribunal heard, Nayeck became “noticeably dismissive” of Hamilton. He stopped making tea for her even if he was making it for other team members and would ignore her morning greetings.

On one occasion, Nayeck found a book that Hamilton had lost and Hamilton believes he rubbed out her name and wrote his own over it before storing it with his own documents.

In a mediation session in 2019, both parties agreed to communicate in a more civil manner. Hamilton said she tried to do this, but her efforts were not reciprocated.

In July 2020, Nayeck sent an email to Jupp and another colleague claiming he had been bullied for two years by Hamilton, listing numerous complaints. He later sent another email listing 10 broader allegations about her.

It was agreed he could work from a separate unit on certain days to limit his time with Hamilton, and the allegations were followed up with an investigation. Hamilton claimed he was “personally very abusive” to her, saying “I don’t like you” and said she was upset at how the problem had been handled by the trust.

In June 2021, Hamilton submitted a formal grievance to the trust alleging that it had failed to deal with the breakdown in the relationship, had not investigated the theft of her book, and that it tolerated abusive behaviour. These were partially upheld.

In August 2021 she was deemed unfit to work due to stress, and finally resigned in January 2022.

In her resignation letter, she said: “I am today formally resigning from my post… due to, what I believe is, a breach of contract by the trust due to a total breakdown of trust and confidence, and thereby consider myself constructively dismissed.

“The situation I have been put in by the trust has caused both significant stress and anxiety for which I have had to seek professional ongoing help. This has been caused as a direct consequence of the actions or and poor management by the trust.”

In her judgment, employment judge Kathryn Ramsden said Hamilton was a “gifted nurse who loved her job”, upholding her claim for constructive unfair dismissal. The trust was ordered to pay her £41,000.

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