Police officer who started side hustle while on sick leave wins £1m payout | UK | News

A police officer has been awarded a £1.1million payout for discrimination after her force stopped her running a side-business on sick leave.

Katrina Hibbert, who ended up quitting her role as a sergeant, said the way she was treated by Thames Valley Police had left her “completely mentally shattered”.

Ms Hibbert was ­suffering from post-­traumatic stress disorder and depression after working with child victims of sexual abuse and drug exploitation, an employment ­tribunal heard.

After visiting an occupational health nurse, the officer launched a party and events business as a “positive outlet” to help her cope with the stress of her job.

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

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

During her sick leave, her line ­manager Insp Craig Entwistle found she had been posting what he described as “upbeat and happy” content on her firm’s Facebook page.

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

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

The hearing was told the force began disciplinary proceedings for allegedly carrying on with her business after permission was removed.

In March 2020, Ms Hibbert resigned, telling managers she was “not mentally strong enough to battle through a gross misconduct”. The proceedings collapsed after it was found the force did not follow business interest appeal procedure.

And this week the tribunal ruled withdrawing permission for her to run the business while she was off sick had been “discrimination arising from her disability”. It also concluded her resignation amounted to unlawful constructive discriminatory dismissal.

Ms Hibbert was awarded around £1,168,000, which included cash for future financial losses. She said: “If Thames Valley Police had listened to me, and had treated me as the law requires, I would still be working for them in the career I loved.”

Dep Ch Cons Ben Snuggs insisted the force was a fair employer and worked hard to ensure that all lessons were “fully captured”.

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