A woman has been handed a £40,000 payout from her bosses after her job was given to someone else whilst she was off sick with breast cancer.
An employment tribunal heard that Andrea Wainwright, a former senior executive from Chelmsford in Essex, was left ‘traumatised and broken’ when she found out through Linkedin that a colleague had taken over her role.
The 47 year old discovered the move by her employer, the banking services firm Cennox, just three months after taking time off work to undergo chemotherapy.
Once well enough to return, Ms Wainwright made an official complaint about her treatment and then resigned.
Five years on and Ms Wainwright has won her claim for disability discrimination and unfair dismissal after successfully suing Cennox.
Andrea Wainwright (pictured) has won her claim for disability discrimination and unfair dismissal after successfully suing her former employer Cennox after her job was given to someone else while she was off sick with breast cancer
She has since been awarded £40,000 in compensation.
The tribunal, held in East London, heard she began working for the company – who provide ATM machines – as head of installations in January 2018, after the firm took over her previous employers.
Ms Wainwright was diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer in August of that year and, after informing her bosses, took sick leave and started chemotherapy four days later.
The hearing was told that senior colleague Shelley Cawthorne temporarily stepped into her role.
In late October Ms Cawthorne told Stephen Garrod, Ms Wainwright’s manager, that she had been offered a senior position at a competitor.
The tribunal heard this would have been a ‘blow’ to the company and so Mr Garrod offered her a permanent position as Head of Installations with a plan to split the role when Ms Wainwright returned.
Ms Cawthorne started her new role on November 1 and a new organisational chart, a graphic to showcase a company’s internal structure, was sent out.
This email was not sent to Ms Wainwright and there was no mention of her in the document.
‘On 23 November 2018, [she] discovered a post on LinkedIn inviting viewers to “Congratulate Shelley for starting a new position as Head of Installations at Cennox”,’ the tribunal heard.
‘There was nothing in the post that suggested that this was a caretaker role or temporary position. [She] was understandably concerned by this.’
Ms Wainwright emailed HR Director Jennifer Spencer-Lee to clarify what was happening and what impact it would have for her return.
Ms Spencer-Lee told Ms Wainwright it was ‘not expected’ to affect her role and that Ms Cawthorne was leading the team ‘for now’.
The tribunal found that this email was ‘misleading’ as it gave the impression Ms Cawthorne’s role was temporary.
Ms Wainwright was informed at a return to work meeting with Mr Garrod and Ms Spencer-Lee in June 2019 that the role was going to be split.
The tribunal heard that Ms Wainwright was unhappy with this and thought she had been demoted because of her cancer diagnosis.
She returned to work on July 29 and on July 31 she submitted an 11 page grievance saying she had been lied to by Mr Garrod and Ms Spencer-Lee.
Her complaint was not upheld and then at the end of August she discovered she had been misled, as Ms Cawthorne told her that her appointment as Head of Installations was permanent, not temporary as her bosses had claimed.
Ms Wainwright’s appeal against the decision to reject her grievance was then delayed as the investigator had fallen ill.
The tribunal heard this was the ‘final straw’ for Ms Wainwright who sent her resignation letter to Ms Spencer-Lee on September 27.
Cennox UK headquarters in Camberley, Surrey. The tribunal heard she began working for the company as head of installations in January 2018. Ms Wainwright was diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer in August of that year and took sick leave and started chemotherapy four days later
Ms Wainwright said: ‘I am very unhappy about the way I have been treated and set out some of the more serious matters.
‘I was assured that my role was unchanged but when I returned to work I did not return to my existing role. I was demoted and several key responsibilities were taken away from me.’
The tribunal found that Ms Wainwright had been misled about the changes to her role and discriminated against.
Employment Judge Catrin Lewis said: ‘We find that [Ms Wainwright] felt traumatised and broken as a result of discovering…that she had indeed been lied to, which was found to have been an act of discrimination.
‘At that time [she] had been through cancer treatment and was recovering, although she was on continuing medication in respect of the chances of recurrence.
‘She had been well enough to return to work and had been described as a fighter.’
Speaking after the tribunal Ms Wainwright said her 25 year old daughter has lifelong care needs and building a career whilst caring for her daughter had been hard.
‘I will do anything to help somebody not go through this again,’ she said. ‘Fighting discrimination on the back of cancer is horrendously difficult.
‘It has been very disruptive, I am having to start my career from scratch through no fault of my own.
‘It has been a very turbulent few years.’
In addition to the £40,000 award for injury to feelings, Ms Wainwright is in line for compensation for loss of earnings which will be decided at a later date.