Sacked James Paget worker awarded £22k payout at tribunal

Steven Johnson was dismissed from his job as a plaster technician at the James Paget University Hospital on Christmas Day over allegations of "clumsy, thoughtless and inappropriate" comments during his time at the trust.

Among these were comparisons he is said to have drawn between conditions at the hospital and a concentration camp while speaking to a patient.

It was also alleged he branded colleagues with derogatory nicknames, including calling one "Mr Blobby", another "fatty" and a third "ladyboy".

Steven Johnson is said to have nicknamed a colleague 'Mr Blobby' Picture: Newsquest (Image: Archant Library)

An employment tribunal panel ruled that while his comments about the Holocaust were "distressing, clearly inappropriate and unacceptable" they had not been intended to be anti-semitic.

But the panel refused an unusual request from Mr Johnson to screen segments of Schindler's List and other wartime films during the tribunal hearing.

This, he argued, would be a means of demonstrating that he would never make facetious comments about such serious issues.

However, this request was turned down by the panel who instead invited him to make these points in his own submissions.

The panel's report reads: "His main point was that he had family who had been involved in the war and that he would never make facetious comments about the war, or the Holocaust."

The tribunal considered whether Mr Johnson's conduct was severe enough to warrant him losing his job.

It heard that alongside his other comments, Mr Johnson had often complained about his workload, the hospital's management and other departments.

It is claimed he had commented that patients "had no idea of the horrors that awaited them in clinic".

Following a disciplinary hearing, officials at the hospital decided the best course of action would be to redeploy Mr Johnson to a different role in the trust.

Staff nurse Rebecca Piggott and deputy divisional director of operations Jonathan Harrowven, who were in charge of his disciplinary panel, both said his actions were misconduct, but did not warrant dismissal.

Aerial photograph of the James Paget. Picture: Mike Page (Image: Mike Page)

He was then encouraged to apply for different positions in the trust.

However, after Mr Johnson opted not to apply for any of the alternative posts available at the time, his employment was terminated on December 25, 2020.

The report reads: "The claimant agreed that he had not applied for any jobs while in the redeployment register and had not contacted HR, although he had looked at posts online.

"He said he had lost faith in the hospital and knew the end was coming. He did not believe the trust would help."

Employment judge Richard Wood ruled that Mr Johnson had therefore been unfairly dismissed from his post - awarding him £22,335.09 in damages.

However, the judge did not order the trust to reinstate Mr Johnson in the plaster room, after hearing evidence that there had been "significant cultural improvement" in the team since his departure.

He wrote: "His return was likely to cause significant disruption to the overall running of the service."

Judge Wood wrote: "The problem as I see it for the trust is that both Ms Piggott and Mr Harrowven told me that the misconduct was not sufficiently serious to justify dismissal.

"Yet, the claimant was dismissed, as I have concluded, on the grounds of misconduct."

Mr Johnson was employed on a band 5 salary, meaning he was earning between £28,407 and £30,639 per year.

A spokesman for the James Paget said: "We accept the findings of the tribunal, and we are ensuring that the learning from the case is taken forward at the hospital."