Woman fired for calling in sick on Mondays wins Rs. 3 lakh compensation

The UK woman told the tribunal that she skipped work that day because of severe period pain. (Representational image)

A woman in the United Kingdom, who was fired from her job after she kept calling in sick on Mondays, was awarded a compensation of over £3,000 (over Rs. 3 lakh) following a tribunal ruling, Metro reported. Celine Thorley was a hairdresser at a salon in Cardiff University Students’ Union. She was fired by her boss in October 2021 after she called in sick on the Monday after she hosted a Halloween party.

Christian Donnelly, the owner of the now-shut Acute Barbers, said he fired his 25-year-old employee because he saw a “pattern” of her calling in sick on Mondays. Thorley had been working at his salon since 2018, with a salary of £16,000 (Rs. 15.9 lakh) a year.

She did not turn up to work on 17 Monday and Tuesdays in total. The salon owner told the tribunal that his ex-employee, in her first year at work, had more sick days than all of her colleagues combined, and they almost always followed weekends.

The Friday before she was sacked, her boss told her at the end of her shift, “Don’t let me down on Monday”, since he knew she had the Halloween party that weekend.

On the Monday, as Donnelly had feared, Thorley texted him claiming she was bedridden because her stomach was “killing” her.

“Hey Chris I know you’re going to be mad at me but I can’t make it to work sorry I really didn’t think I was going to be this bad I’m not well at all I was a mess yesterday and I’ve woke up this morning and was sick straight away,” she told him in the text message.

“I really thought I was going to be okay today… my stomach is killing me and I’m all shaky… I really can’t get out of bed Chris. I’m so sorry.”

The salon owner replied, informing her that she was fired. “Don’t come in and you’re gone.”

Continuing the text exchange, the woman warned him saying she will take him to court if she is fired.

“You’ve had all your warnings. Crack on with all that legal s**t,” he replied.

She told the tribunal that she skipped work that day because of severe period pain, adding that she suffers from endometriosis, which causes painful periods. Her mother-in-law took leave from work that day to take care of her, she said. She also said that she had been on the waiting list for a gynaecologist’s appointment.

The tribunal ruled that the woman had a “physical impairment” from menorrhagia, or heavy periods, and that she was not given formal warnings by her boss over her sick leaves.

“A fair process had been ignored altogether. The failure was not inadvertent but deliberate,” the tribunal said, asking him to pay the woman £3,453  (Rs. 3.43 lakh) as compensation.