Police force 'victimised' disabled officer

The judge ruled that managers at Lancashire Police ignored recommendations from their own medical advisers

A police force victimised a disabled officer, a tribunal found.

The officer, named in the tribunal judgement as Ms L Darby, claimed Lancashire Police had not made reasonable adjustments for her post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression and anxiety.

The force confirmed to the tribunal it knew that she had the illnesses but ignored advice on how to help her.

The three-person panel led by Judge Batten said the claim for victimisation and unfavourable treatment was "well-founded".

Sickness

Ms Darby was employed as an officer from March 2003, but was away from work from September 2010 to June 2017.

She was placed on adjusted duties when she returned, but then signed off on sick leave between August 2017 and November 2018 after what the tribunal heard was a "domestic violence incident".

An occupational health assessment said she was unfit for frontline policing and had "by no means recovered" by the time she returned to work on adjusted duties.

Absences that Ms Darby put down to the PTSD were treated as "unsatisfactory attendance" and she was formally told her work must improve.

The tribunal found the improvement notice to be discriminatory and said managers could have foreseen it would be harmful to her mental health, especially as it could have led to her being sacked.

'Too difficult'

The tribunal in Manchester also heard that when her unit was moved from Blackpool to Morecambe during a coronavirus lockdown in 2021, it meant she faced an 80-mile round trip.

The panel said she should have been redeployed and that medical reports the force commissioned said she should cut down on driving.

There was little evidence of what managers did, "if anything, to explore options," the tribunal found.

The force's managers blamed administrative problems meant it would have been "too difficult" to transfer but, the tribunal said "such an argument simply does not stack up in a large respondent police force employing thousands".

'Disability discrimination'

In 2021, Ms Darby lodged a grievance on the grounds she had been discriminated against over her disability.

Her Written Improvement Notice was revoked but the force found it had not discriminated against her or failed to make reasonable adjustments.

The grievance appeal was handled by Chief Superintendent Richard Robertshaw and ultimately dismissed.

But the tribunal found his report on the appeal was inaccurate and a damage limitation exercise.

In December 2021 an occupational health report said Ms Darby was not fit to work in policing and she was given ill-health early retirement in August 2022.

The tribunal found in favour of her claims of a failure to make reasonable adjustments, victimisation and "unfavourable treatment because of something arising in consequence of disability".

A remedy hearing is due to take place at a later date.