Thames Valley Police ex-officer wins £1.1m in discrimination case

[Pelican Press 0]

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

Thames Valley Police ex-officer wins £1.1m in discrimination case

data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw==Getty Images

Katrina Hibbert [not pictured] started a party tent business to help her mental health

A former police officer has been handed more than £1m in compensation after it was ruled she had been discriminated against.

Katrina Hibbert was a safeguarding sergeant with Thames Valley Police (TVP), working with victims of child ******* and ***** exploitation in Cherwell and West Oxfordshire.

She had started a party and events business as a “positive outlet” to help her cope with the stress of her job, a tribunal heard.

But she resigned from the force after it withdrew permission for her to run the business while she was off *****, which a judge found to be “discrimination arising from her disability”.

data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw==data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw==

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

Ms Hibbert had worked for TVP since 2004

An occupational health nurse had suggested taking up a hobby could improve Ms Hibbert’s mental wellbeing, the tribunal was told.

After getting business interest approval – which lets an employee pursue other lines of work outside their job – she began “creating and theming party tents”.

A doctor signed Ms Hibbert off with work-related stress in May 2019 after she learned a vulnerable young person she had been working with had *****.

‘Happy distraction’

During her ***** leave, her line manager, Insp Craig Entwistle, discovered she had been posting what he described as “upbeat and happy” content on her business’

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

page.

The force then removed Ms Hibbert’s business interest approval, telling her that running the business while off ***** could be “impacting on [her] return”.

But Ms Hibbert warned taking away her “happy and creative distraction” was unlikely to promote a faster return to work.

TVP then started disciplinary proceedings against her for allegedly carrying on with her business, the tribunal heard.

In March 2020, Ms Hibbert resigned from TVP, adding she was “not mentally strong enough to battle through a ****** misconduct”.

The proceedings later collapsed after it was found TVP had ******* to follow the business interest appeal procedure.

‘Mentally shattered’

TVP had ******* to make reasonable adjustments and discriminated against Ms Hibbert by removing her business interest approval, the tribunal found.

It also concluded her resignation amounted to unlawful constructive discriminatory dismissal.

Ms Hibbert was awarded about £1,168,000, which included cash for future financial losses.

She said the way she had been treated by the police force had left her “completely mentally shattered”.

“If TVP had listened to me, and had treated me as the law requires, I would still be working for them in the career I loved,” she added.

Deputy Chief Constable Ben Snuggs said TVP was a fair employer and the force had since worked hard to ensure that all lessons had been “fully captured”.

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

#Thames #Valley #Police #exofficer #wins #1.1m #discrimination #case

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up