Hammersmith & Fulham LBC has said it will appeal the tribunal’s decision to award a record £4.6m to an employee who was dismissed while on sick leave.
The council’s former director of public service reform, Rachael Wright-Turner, was fired after she suffered a panic attack brought on by PTSD.
Ms Wright-Turner joined the London borough after working as a ‘humanitarian assistance lead’ at the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, supporting bereaved families in the wake of the Grenfell Tower fire.
A spokesperson for Hammersmith and Fulham LBC said they were sorry for the ordeal suffered by Ms Wright-Turner, but added the compensation was ‘vastly excessive, disputed and highly unprecedented.’
‘While we are grateful to the tribunal panel for dismissing many of the exceptional claims that her lawyers have made, we still believe this award is excessive and will be looking to appeal,’ they added.
