NHS nurse wins £41k payout after suing when colleague left her out of tea spherical and mentioned ‘I do not such as you’ following bust-up
An NHS nurse who quit her job after her colleague left her out of the tea round has won a £41,000 payout.
Susan Hamilton and dietitian Abdool Nayeck had a ‘difficult’ relationship for many years before their grievances came to a head over a cup of tea, an employment tribunal heard.
The nurse alleged Mr Nayeck made hot drinks for everyone but her after she questioned his ‘competency’, the Croydon tribunal was told.
The dietitian continued to ignore her when she said hello and faced the other way when she was speaking in meetings.
Eventually, the pair were invited by bosses to mediation over their issues where Mr Nayeck was accused of ‘bluntly’ stating: ‘I don’t like Sue’.
Following formal intervention from the NHS Trust they worked for, they agreed to be ‘polite’ to one another and ‘communicate in a civil manner’.
But, diabetes specialist nurse Mrs Hamilton claimed that there was ‘no change’ in his behaviour apart from the fact that Mr Nayeck ‘now made tea for no one’.
After raising allegations of bullying behaviour as well as stealing one of her books, the nurse the matter was brought to an employment tribunal
Susan Hamilton, who quit her job after her co-worker Abdool Nayeck left her out of a tea round has been awarded a £41,000 payout (stock image)
It was heard that the dietitian continued to ignore the nurse after she questioned his competency, the employment tribunal in Croydon (pictured) heard
The judge found the Trust ‘appeared to do very little beyond speaking to Mr Nayeck – which evidently made no difference’ and failed to address it ‘appropriately’.
Now, the ‘long-standing’ and ‘gifted’ nurse has been awarded £41,000 in compensation.
The tribunal heard Mrs Hamilton joined the Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust as a Diabetes Specialist Nurse in October, 2012.
Mr Nayeck later joined the department in September 2017 as a Diabetes Specialist Dietician and the pair worked in the same team, often treating the same individuals.
The tribunal heard that they had a ‘difficult relationship’ from early on following an incident in 2018, where they were at odds ‘about the appropriate response’ in relation to a patient who had collapsed at home.
Mrs Hamilton apologised for her ‘tone’ when speaking with Mr Nayeck after she told him she was questioning his ‘competency’, but from this point onwards he became ‘noticeably dismissive’.
The tribunal heard that around this time, Mrs Hamilton complained that Mr Nayeck ‘stopped making tea for her when he was making it for all other team members’.
The pair were invited to a meeting to discuss their relationship and the dietitian allegedly ‘bluntly’ told his colleague ‘I don’t like you’.
They were invited to formal mediation and signed an agreement in late 2019 to ‘communicate in a civil manner with each other at work’ by ‘saying hello’, ‘not excluding from conversations’, and ‘being polite’.
It was heard the pair had a ‘difficult’ relationship before the matter came to a head (stock image)
But, in evidence, Mrs Hamilton said: ‘The only change that occurred from [Mr Nayeck’s] side is that he no longer made drinks for the team in the morning so by extension I was no longer specifically excluded in that regard.’
The following summer, Mr Nayeck wrote a lengthy complaint against Mrs Hamilton, alleging that she had been bullying him over a two-year period.
An investigation ensued and during a meeting, Mrs Hamilton said the dietician had been ‘very abusive’ towards her and on one occasion had stolen one of her books.
She told bosses that she had ‘tried to build a better relationship with Mr Nayeck by offering him tea and coffee but the treatment was not reciprocated by him.
Bosses found there was ‘no case to answer’, however Mrs Hamilton was ‘upset’ to have been told ‘aspects of her behaviour could have contributed to Mr Nayeck feeling bullied’.
Mrs Hamilton was signed off work with stress and when she finally returned to the in-patient team, in January 2021, she complained about the handling of concerns and complaints she had raised against Mr Nayeck.
The nurse said she had been subjected to ‘years of targeted and intimidating behaviour’ from the dietitian which included him being ‘extremely disrespectful’ towards her.
She said: ‘I have accepted my manager advising that she was dealing with the situation, and did not escalate my concerns to a formal grievance, but the outcome of this has been Abdool himself raising a formal complaint against me.’
In June of that year, she raised a formal grievance and complained about the theft of the book and his behaviour towards her as well as against the Trust for its handling of her concerns.
While the grievances against the trust were upheld, the allegation of abuse carried out by Mr Nayeck was dismissed.
Accusations regarding the book theft were only partially accepted as bosses said an additional investigation would need to ensue.
Just weeks after hearing the news, Mrs Hamilton was signed off sick with stress, and it was heard she never returned to the hospital.
She appealed the grievance and this was upheld by the hospital who acknowledged the ‘impact’ the previous outcome had on her ‘wellbeing’.
In January 2022, Mrs Hamilton resigned, citing ‘a breach of contract by the Trust due to a total breakdown of trust and confidence’, and she took the trust to an employment tribunal.
The judge found the Trust ‘appeared to do very little beyond speaking to Mr Nayeck – which evidently made no difference’ and failed to address it ‘appropriately’ (stock image)
Employment Judge Kathryn Ramsden said: ‘[Mrs Hamilton’s] evidence was that there was no change in Mr Nayeck’s behaviour after the formal mediation, save that rather than making tea for everyone else besides [Mrs Hamilton], he now made tea for no one.
‘This was despite the fact that the formal mediation had concluded with them agreeing, among other things, ‘to communicate in a civil manner with each other at work’.’
The panel said that in the Trust’s evidence, Mr Nayeck’s conduct ‘continued to fall far short of the standards it expected’.
The judge said the Trust ‘appeared to do very little beyond speaking to Mr Nayeck – which evidently made no difference’ and failed to address it ‘appropriately’.
‘In relation to the Management Failure, the [Trust] failed – over a number of years – to take adequate action in relation to Mr Nayeck’s behaviour, including when [Mrs Hamilton] was made unwell due to the stress that that caused,’ the judge said.
‘[Mrs Hamilton’s] evidence of the impact that that had on her was powerful: she was a gifted nurse, who loved her job, and she was immensely distressed to have found herself in a situation where she could not do it.’
