Tribunal victory for worker, 66 gaslighted by young colleagues
A MAN whose colleagues told him he was ‘losing the plot’ because of his age was unfairly dismissed, a tribunal has ruled.
Stewart Lamond, who was then 62, claimed he had been a victim of bullying after he was told Scottish Prison Service [SPS] colleagues were stealing from his desk.
When he noticed that despatch notes, invoices and sales orders kept disappearing after he left the office he confronted younger staff who told him ‘you’re losing the plot’.
But bosses did not believe Mr Lamond, now 66, and he was signed off work several times with stress, anxiety and depression as well as a long-term workplace injury. He also was suspended after colleagues complained he had made ‘false’ allegations about the alleged theft from his desk.
Mr Lamond applied for partial retirement as he could not cope with working full time but his bosses refused. Now he is in line to receive compensation after
‘Alleged thefts from his desk’
an employment tribunal ruled he had been unfairly dismissed and discriminated against on grounds of disability.
Mr Lamond worked as a customer services and sales manager for Scottish Prison Service (SPS) Industries based in Fauldhouse, West Lothian.
It operates a warehouse that distributes goods made by prisoners, such as garden furniture, PPE, waste skips and other items as part of their rehabilitation.
The tribunal, in Edinburgh, heard that in 2010 Mr Lamond suffered a workplace injury when a large sewing machine fell on him, pinning him to the ground and severely damaging his left hip and back.
He has struggled with the injury since and had also been diagnosed with anxiety and depression.
In April or May 2017, Mr Lamond noticed that when he arrived for work each morning, documents from the previous day had gone missing. The tribunal heard colleagues told him ‘it must be an age thing’. This was potentially a form of ‘gaslighting’, in which someone is made to doubt their own sanity.
He became very stressed and in June 2017 a junior colleague told him staff had a key to his desk and would take papers away.
Mr Lamond complained to HR and an investigation was conducted, but the junior colleague was not interviewed and nothing came of it.
In March 2018 he was investigated for gross misconduct after it was alleged he had made a false allegation of theft in 2017.
Because of the investigation, Mr Lamond suffered an acute stress reaction and had a breakdown. When he finally felt ready to return to work he applied for partial retirement in August 2018 but this was rejected. He felt unable to return full time so he was dismissed.
Employment Judge Mary Kearns ruled the partial retirement would have been reasonable.
She said: ‘Dismissal was not a proportionate means of achieving [SPS’s] aim and the claim of discrimination arising from disability is well-founded. The claim succeeds.’
A further hearing will take place to decide on compensation.
An SPS spokesman said it was considering the tribunal’s findings.