An NHS consultant lost a discrimination case for being instructed to roll up her sleeves at work.
Dr Fahrat Butt is Muslim and wears a hijab that covers everything except her hands, feet, and face in public.
She claims she was 'racially profiled' and 'bullied' by managers to show her forearms at work, but she lost her case when a judge stated 'not everything that happens in the workplace to a Muslim worker will be related to religion'.
On December 6, 2022, Dr Butt walked into a corridor and, believing it was not a clinical area, did not think she needed to follow the 'bare below the elbow' hygiene policy.
However, she was seen and a heated argument ensued, as heard by an employment tribunal.
She sued the health service for religious discrimination and harassment.
She worked for an NHS Trust in Bradford but worked one day a week as a visiting Consultant Ophthalmologist at the Airedale General Hospital, in Eastburn, West Yorkshire, which is where the incident occurred.
The panel heard there were hand hygiene guidelines in place which required staff to be 'bare below the elbows to facilitate effective hand hygiene'.
But the guidelines state: 'While we expect all staff in clinical areas to be 'bare below the elbows', we also acknowledge the specific needs of our staff based on cultural, religious, or disability reasons.'
As a result, the trust provides disposable sleeves – but Dr Butt said there was 'no clear definition' of the non-clinical and clinical areas.
After leaving the operating theatre to go to the bathroom to make a phone call, she had her sleeves 'fully down' by the time she reached the corridor.
During a confrontation, director of nursing, Mary Hytch, and two other bosses saw Dr Butt.
Mrs Hytch thought she had been in the anaesthetic room without her sleeves rolled up and, to get her attention, raised her voice slightly and said, 'excuse me'. She then asked her to roll her sleeves up.
This made Dr Butt 'upset' at being challenged, and this was evident in her reaction during a heated argument that 'escalated very quickly', during which voices were raised on both sides.
The panel heard she was 'not happy' and 'very upset' at being challenged because she believed she was following the policy.
'[Dr Butt] thought she was being challenged by three colleagues who were supporting each other and that she had done nothing wrong,' the hearing was told.
'Both she and Mrs Hytch became heated and talked in loud voices.'
Failing to reach a resolution in an informal manner, Dr Butt escalated her complaint and stated that the situation that made her 'feel targeted' had not been handled 'professionally or appropriately'.
She declined to use mediation and an independent investigation started in March 2023 because she reported ‘deep rooted problems’ with discrimination.
A report discovered that Mrs Hytch’s request for Dr Butt to have bare below the elbows was ‘not racially motivated but was a request made to ensure adherence to the policies’.
However, it was acknowledged that the incident had been ‘stressful’ for her, and it was ‘disappointing’ that the discussion had escalated so quickly.
Employment Judge Kirsty Ayre concluded that the initial challenge of Mrs Hytch was ‘not because of religion’ and thus not discriminatory.
‘Not everything that happens in the workplace to a Muslim worker will be related to religion, and [Dr Butt]’s own evidence was that religion was not discussed on the day,’ she said.
‘Instead, she gave another reason at the time for not rolling her sleeves up, that she believed she was in a non-clinical area of the hospital.
‘We acknowledge that the initial challenge was polite and find that the reason matters subsequently became heated was because of [Dr Butt]’s response to being challenged, combined with Mrs Hytch’s response to her not doing as she was asked.
‘We also find that the reason Mary Hytch initially challenged [Dr Butt] was because she genuinely believed that she was in breach of the policies.’
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