The former manager of Maggie's Cancer Centre has been awarded nearly £23,000 after an employment tribunal ruled she was dismissed unfairly by her employer.
Sinead Collins, 55, of Audenshaw, was the centre head of Maggie's Manchester from November 2015, in the months before it opened, to April 2020, when she was dismissed for 'gross misconduct'.
But the nurse has now been awarded £22,982.40 following a two day hearing after which judge Joanne Dunlop ruled Miss Collin's claim of unfair dismissal was 'well founded' and that the procedure around it had been 'fundamentally flawed'.
The award was reduced by 20 per cent on account of the claimant’s 'culpable conduct', which was found by the judge to be 'limited'.
Before joining the Withington-based centre, Miss Collins had worked previously at The Christie as an advanced nurse practitioner and also at the University of Manchester as a clinical academic.
Speaking to the Manchester Evening News about her dismissal , she said: "It was awful, really unexpected. It's a very successful centre and was meeting or exceeding all its targets. We had more than 100,000 visitors in the time I was there. We had relationships with those people and worked really hard to support them. It was a well-run centre.
"People were coming for help who had been out of treatment or had been bereaved for many years and who didn't know where else to turn. I absolutely loved working there. I saw Maggie's change lives every day.
"Winning the tribunal is a victory in terms of my professional reputation - but it was just such a terrible ordeal and it felt like Maggie's wouldn't listen to what I wanted to say.
"It's just been exhausting. I was sacked during lockdown which was devastating. I just found myself sitting here as a registered nurse but potentially unemployable as someone accused of gross misconduct."
Miss Collins, a mum of one, added: "The Royal College of Nursing has been amazing."
The tribunal heard that in the summer of 2019, Miss Collins' then line manager gave her an annual performance review rating of 45/50 - considered to be a 'strong' performance.
However, just months later, in Autumn 2019, a new line manager placed Miss Collins on 'performance management'. There was no formal performance plan, no targets and no written record of the 'problems' with her work.
In February 2020, there was a development review meeting between Miss Collins and her manager, who commented that she did not feel the Manchester Centre was 'in good hands'. The claimant believed her boss was 'pushing her to resign'.
In March, Miss Collins was told there would be an investigation into an alleged breach of confidence in relation to sharing personal medical information about a member of her team.
The allegations centred around the sharing of details about a staff member's health with a client company, colleagues and a board member.
Miss Collins admitted that, motivated by a desire to protect an important fundraising relationship, she had informed a donor company that a member of staff was unwell at the time of an incident they had complained about. She denied giving specific details. The judge later ruled this amounted to 'limited' culpable conduct.
The other allegations - around the sharing of details about a staff member's health - were found by the judge not to have been proven.
Miss Collins commenced a period of sickness absence on March 18 due to work-related stress.
That month, she received a letter asking her to attend a disciplinary hearing on April 1.
She replied stating her representative from RCN would be unable to attend on the date proposed, that she was unable to participate due to her health and that she intended to raise grievances against her line manager.
Miss Collins' email was not acknowledged but a further letter was sent rearranging the disciplinary hearing for April 15.
Miss Collins replied on April 6 stating she was still too unwell to attend a meeting. This email was not acknowledged until the afternoon of April 14, after Miss Collins had resent her email.
On the basis that Miss Collins was not going to attend anyway, the hearing was brought forward to April 14. Miss Collins was not informed that the hearing would go ahead in her absence, or given any other options to participate.
Considering the allegation regarding the conversation with an outside donor, the judge noted there had been 'genuine belief' from Maggie's that Miss Collins had disclosed some confidential information about a colleague's health, and that this amounted to misconduct.
However, she said: "I do not consider that a dismissal for the limited misconduct I have identified was within the band of reasonable responses."
In respect of the other allegations - on the sharing of details of a staff member's health - the judge said there had been 'a complete failure to analyse the matter and consider what had actually happened and whether it was capable of amounting to misconduct as alleged'.
The judge also found that the procedure around the dismissal was 'fundamentally flawed', adding: "The claimant’s claim that she was unfairly dismissed is well-founded."
The tribunal heard that both Maggie's and Miss Collins had failed to comply with the ACAS code.
In Maggies's case, this related to the arrangements for the disciplinary hearing, in the claimant's case, a failure to make use of the internal appeal process.
The judge said: "That conclusion is particularly disappointing in circumstances where the respondent is a relatively large organisation with a dedicated HR function, and the claimant is a senior professional who had the benefit of union representation. "
The judge asked that both Maggie's and the RCN 'consider these points when involved in future disciplinary processes'.
Estephanie Dunn, Regional Director for the Royal College of Nursing in the North West, which supported Miss Collins in her case, said: "It was clear that the investigation was inadequate and flawed and that dismissal was not a reasonable sanction."
A Maggie's spokeswoman said: "What is really important to us is that we continue to give the best possible emotional and practical support to people with cancer in Manchester and beyond."
