An employee at a nursing home was unfairly dismissed after being accused of lying about his Covid symptoms and faking doctors’ notes to avoid work, a tribunal has ruled.
Mr Galang, who worked at the Kestrel Grove Residential and Nursing Home in Bushey, took his dismissal to the Watford Employment Tribunal after an argument with his manager during the first wave of the pandemic.
The tribunal on January 22 this year heard that Mr Galang began to feel unwell with what appeared to be Covid symptoms – including body pain, a cold and a persistent cough - in March 2020 and was instructed to self-isolate after calling 111.
He had an isolation note covering March 23 to March 29, but after the period he continued to feel unwell and received another for April 6 to April 12.
By the end, he was off for seven weeks due to continuing symptoms, including feeling “dizzy” and being “unwell”.
The worker felt shaken after his manager lashed out
Eventually on May 5 he did return to work, but Mr Galang was alarmed to see staff working in the kitchen without face masks and a colleague explained it was like this for a while – so Mr Galang joked he would complain to the Care Quality Commission (CQC) if no action was taken.
His manager heard about the joke and confronted Mr Galang, when he “became angry”, shouting at Mr Galang and pointing his finger at his employee.
Mr Galang was accused of not being a loyal employee, called “ungrateful” and was accused of lying to his GP about having Covid and falsifying doctors’ notes.
Unhappy with his treatment, Mr Galang did not feel comfortable to return, took all his belongings and left.
Outside the nursing home
The manager sent a letter with an “informal warning,” again accusing him of falsifying sick notes and stating that issues with PPE breaches should have been discussed with management and not colleagues.
In return, Mr Galang resigned and stated he was “treated appallingly”.
The tribunal concluded this was an “unfair dismissal” and noted the manager was reluctant to provide a full account of the incident.
It also noted there was “no reasonable” cause for the manager to shout at the claimant.
A remedy hearing is due later on.
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