An M&S worker who went off sick after confronting a maskless shopper has successfully sued the company for sacking her.
Deborah Daisy was working for the retail giant in November 2020 when she was verbally abused by the 'aggressive' man, an employment tribunal heard.
The hearing was told this 'traumatic' event affected her mental health and brought back past incidents, namely an armed robbery and her chasing a shoplifter out of the shop to a bus stop.
Deborah had not received training in dealing with crime, the panel was told, and she went off sick for five months with anxiety and depression caused by safety at work fears.
The tribunal heard that during this time, Deborah complained about M&S' 'lack of action' over the incidents and that she still felt 'vulnerable' being in store.
She was then sacked after M&S concluded there were no adjustments that could be made to facilitate her return to work, so she launched a claim for unfair dismissal at an employment tribunal.
Deborah has now won her claim with the panel concluding she should have been told the outcome of investigations into her personal safety issues and the company had hidden behind the guise of GDPR constraints.
Additionally, a judge was 'surprised' by M&S' failure to explore resolving her problems given it is a 'well-resourced retailer'.
'Loyal and hardworking' Deborah joined the firm in April 2015 and worked part time as a customer assistant at the Oatlands Harrogate Simply Food store.
The hearing, held in Leeds, was told she went off work due to 'high levels' of anxiety and 'severe' depression in January 2021 after she confronted a shopper who refused to wear a mask.
During an ill-health meeting the following month, the panel heard Deborah's anxiety and depression were caused by the pandemic in general but referred to that specific incident. Adjustments were discussed to facilitate her coming back.
The tribunal was told two occupational health reports were made and she was deemed unfit to work, with her return unlikely in the foreseeable future.
The panel heard: "Her history would suggest that she could be revisiting distressing thoughts and feelings from the armed robbery or other incidents where she felt under threat.
"This is likely to be impacting on why she doesn't currently feel safe in work despite strict Covid preventions measures in place.
"It is likely the anxiety around Covid safety is exacerbated by some unresolved issues from the past and could include the armed robbery and issues she alluded to in the past."
The panel heard investigations were carried out by M&S into Deborah's concerns, however she was not told of the result due to 'vague' GDPR reasons.
In April, Deborah was warned her continued absence could result in her being sacked if she was incapable to return to work, the tribunal was told.
Matters had not improved by the following month, as the panel heard thinking about work sent her anxiety 'through the roof' and she felt 'vulnerable in store'.
The tribunal was also told that in a meeting about her absence, Deborah said she felt M&S had not 'acted and dealt with abusive customers appropriately'.
"Most of the fourth consultation was taken up by [Mrs Daisy] complaining about the lack of action over the incidents she had referred to previously as happening to her at the store and making her feel vulnerable...
"It is clear from the content of the discussion at the fourth consultation that these are the matters that [she] is stating are preventing her from returning to work," the tribunal heard.
In June that year she was fired, which she unsuccessfully appealed.
Deborah then took M&S to the employment tribunal which found she should have been told the result of the investigations and that M&S had only shared the information with her after she was sacked.
Employment Judge Timothy Knowles concluded: "It was in my conclusion outside of the band of reasonable responses which might have been adopted by an employer acting reasonably to dismiss without sharing the findings about the issues she had raised in relation to her personal safety and engaging with [Mrs Daisy] about how her personal safety fears may be addressed in future...
"I am surprised that those matters were not explored with [her] given that [Marks and Spencer Plc] is a well-resourced retailer in the UK and given that the plight of shop workers and the abuse they suffer at work is generally well known."
Deborah will be awarded compensation in due course. The tribunal assessed the likelihood of her dismissal in any event as 25% and therefore any compensatory award will be reduced by that percentage.
- An earlier version of this story incorrectly said the claimant worked at a store in Teeside and said the tribunal found it was likely she would have eventually been dismissed in any event. The tribunal actually found that the "likelihood of dismissal in any event as 25%". It follows that there was a 75% chance that the claimant would not have been dismissed in any event.
