Carer's £6,000 win for unfair sacking (From Daily Echo)
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Child carer awarded £6,000 for unfair dismissal from nursery
6:00pm Thursday 16th February 2012 in Southampton
Claire Moore.
A CHILD carer has been awarded £6,257 for unfair dismissal from a nursery after she launched a claim for a back injury at work.
An employment tribunal in Southampton found mum-ofthree Claire Moore, 34, had been unfairly dismissed from Paint Pots Pre-school and Nursery after working there for nine years.
The tribunal heard bosses began to question her capability for the role after they received a letter from her solicitor warning she was going to be claiming for a back injury sustained at work eight months earlier while lifting a box of food from her car to a nursery in Waterloo Road.
Mrs Moore, of Crigdon Close, Southampton, said she was called in for various disciplinary hearings over her ability to do her work because of the injury as well as her refusal to give consent for her employees to obtain her medical reports.
She was dismissed last April – nine months after beginning her personal injury claim, on the grounds of her “capability”.
Mrs Moore said the dispute had left her unable to get a new job without a reference for the past nine years. She said she was having to volunteer at a school.
She said: “The worst thing is I never got the chance to say goodbye to the girls and other mums.”
In a statement to the tribunal, the proprietor of the Paint Pots chain said Mrs Moore was dismissed on the grounds of her “capability” as she had refused to carry out all of her duties and had been previously warned.
Anna Wright said that health and safety guidance, including manual handling, was a feature of team meetings and a manual handling poster was displayed in the nursery.
However, a judge ruled Mrs Moore had been unfairly dismissed and awarded £6,257 in compensation.
Paint Pots said it was considering an appeal.
Comments(3)
vintagestargirl
says...
1:24pm Sat 18 Feb 12
loopylou123
says...
6:52pm Mon 20 Feb 12
Huffter wrote:After reading this my first thoughts were for this lady who has served this nursery for 9 years as a dedicated member of staff, having had an incident at work and making a claim through her employers insurance it seems she was clearly outcasted and eventually out of a job. Then my thoughts went along to the children in the care of this establishment, if this was a case of a parent making a claim what would the reaction be?? Bearing in mind that a panel of independent people have awarded her dismissal unfair. I think this lady has proved how dedicated she was to her job and feel it was very sad that her only comment was that she was not allowed to say goodbye to the parents and children she had been caring for, it is all very well for us to judge people but I would seriously think twice as to sending any child of my to a place where the employers did not take proper care of their staff as it is only natural considering the job they are doing day to day looking after children. I also feel it is a sad loss for both the children and the nursery, I hope this lady finds a new job in a place that appreciates her and that this does not knock her confidence to go forward.
Wouldn't want her looking after my kids if she has a back problem - surely having a back that can cope with a bit of bending and stretching is part of being a child carer?
Huffter says...
2:19pm Fri 17 Feb 12