An ex-council leader has won a record £4.6 million payout after taking legal action against her employers for mistreatment. disability The mistreatment involved discrimination and harassment.
Following legal proceedings, the employment tribunal instructed the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham to award the sum to Rachael Wright-Turner, 52, who previously served as a director of public service reform at the council.
She was dismissed in 2018 after taking sick leave because of post-traumatic stress disorder, which she developed while working at Kensington and Chelsea council to support those affected by the Grenfell Tower tragedy.
The disaster claimed 72 lives in a fire that swept through the 24-storey building in June 2017.
Ms Wright-Turner's compensation is thought to be the largest payout ever ordered against a public entity.
However, she expressed that she never wanted to resort to a tribunal, and the six-year legal dispute has taken a significant toll on her family and mental well-being.
In an interview with The Mail on Sunday, Ms Wright-Turner stated: 'This case has cost us everything, Before this started, I was married with two children in private school.
'Now my marriage has collapsed, I’m fighting to stop my house from being repossessed and my children have been left devastated after being forced to leave their schools.
'My income has been taken away – we have been living literally on the breadline, taking donations from food banks and charities.'
Following a meeting with colleagues at a local pub in May 2018, Ms Wright-Turner suffered a panic attack triggering her PTSD, leading to a hospital visit.
Shortly after, Hammersmith and Fulham senior officers alleged that she had been intoxicated before seeking medical help.
Around the same time, Ms Wright-Turner was diagnosed with ADHD, to which the council’s former chief executive Kim Smith responded by claiming that her brain 'doesn’t function like others’.
She was subsequently fired from her £125,000-a-year position without given the opportunity to discuss or challenge the decision.
In a recent interview, she mentioned: 'They did not realize the extent of my work with the families in the aftermath of Grenfell.
'They treated my PTSD as if I was exaggerating.'
She realized that the public will foot the bill for the payout, estimated at around £25 per resident, but maintains that she had no other option but to clear her name.
She commented: 'From the public’s perspective, this award may seem substantial, but I would return every penny to avoid this situation. I had anticipated leaving with a redundancy payment, but they wanted me to depart empty-handed.'
The council has apologized for her experiences but plans to challenge the decision because it believes her claim was 'very excessive, disputed and highly unprecedented.'
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