A senior female executive won others when she wasn’t sick at her job, winning over £1.2 million in her job.
The Employment Court heard that Andrea Wainwright felt “wounded and broken” when he found a colleague on LinkedIn taking over her role.
The 48-year-old “fighter” (who earns over £80,000 a year) discovered the move of a banking service company she hired just three months after taking leave to receive chemotherapy.
When she was enough to return, she made a formal complaint about her treatment and then resigned.
Five years later, after successfully suing Cennox, a cash-point company, she won her claim for disability discrimination and unfair dismissal.
Ms. Wainwright now receives a staggering total salary of £1,224,861.
After her success, Ms. Wainwright, of Chelmsford, Essex, told her how she lost her job after her diagnosis “destroyed” her job court process.
The court heard that she started working for the company (providing ATM machines) in January 2018 after the company took over its former employer.
Ms Wainwright said it was “very difficult” to fight the case on the back of the cancer, but received a total compensation of £1,224,861.94.
Ms. Wainwright discovered that a colleague had worked on her job just three months after she was on leave
Ms. Wainwright was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer in August of that year. After notifying her boss, she took sick leave and started chemotherapy four days later.
The East London hearing was told that senior colleague Shelley Cawthorne had temporarily played her role.
In late October, Ms. Cathorne told Ms. Wayne Wright’s manager Stephen Garrod that she was invited to a senior position for her competitors.
The court heard that it would be a “hit” to the company, so Mr. Garrod held her permanent position as the installation supervisor and planned to be part of the role when Ms. Wainwright returns.
Ms. Cawthorne started her new role on November 1 and sent out a new organizational chart.
The email was not sent to Ms. Wainwright and she was not mentioned in the documentation.
But three weeks later, she realized the date when she saw an article on LinkedIn invites viewers to “congratulate Shelley on starting a new position in Cennox,” “the court trial” and left behind “understandable relevance.”
Ms. Wainwright emailed HR director Jennifer Spencer-Lee to clarify what is going on and what impacts her return.
Court heard Ms. Wayne Wright’s manager offered her role to her colleagues
Ms Wainwright said losing her job after diagnosis has “destroyed” her and she has passed the “principal” employment court process.
Ms Spencer-Lee told Ms Wainwright that it was “expected” to affect her role, while Ms Cawthorne led the team temporarily”.
The court held that the email was “misleading” because it gave the impression that Ms. Cawthorne’s role was temporary.
Ms. Wainwright was subsequently informed at a return work meeting with Mr. Garrod and Ms. Spencer-Lee in June 2019.
The court heard Ms Wayne Wright was dissatisfied with it and believed she was demoted due to the cancer diagnosis.
Two days after returning to work at the end of July, she filed an 11-page complaint, saying she was lied by Mr. Garrod and Ms. Spencer-Lee.
Her complaint was not maintained, and then at the end of August, she found herself misled because Ms. Cathorne told her that her appointment as installation supervisor was permanent, not temporary, as the boss claimed.
When Ms. Wainwright’s appeal to the decision to reject her complaint was delayed because investigators became ill, she resigned.
“I’m very upset about the way I’m treated and bringing up something more serious,” she wrote in a resignation letter to Ms Spencer-Lee on September 27.
Employment Court in East London, Ms. Wayne Wright was misled and discriminated against for changing roles
“I promise that my role has not changed, but when I got back to work, I didn’t return to my existing role. I was demoted and several key responsibilities were taken from me. ”
The court found that Ms. Wainwright was misled and discriminated against for her role changes.
Employment judge Catrin Lewis found that Ms. Wainwright “discovered… she was indeed lied and found to be discriminatory, and found to be discriminatory.”
The judge added: “At that time (she) was receiving cancer treatment, although she was continuing to receive the opportunity to relapse and continue the medication.
“She’s already back to work enough to be described as a fighter.”
Ms Wayne Wright said after the court decision that her 25-year-old daughter had lifelong care needs and established a career while caring for her.
“I never did this for money, and I did it in principle,” she said.
“Losing your job and career just because of a cancer diagnosis really destroys you, and I am fighting for my life while everything is in doubt and everything else is incredible. Incredible.
“I hope the result will prevent this blatant discrimination from happening again.
“This will allow me to close the door in a very unpleasant chapter, and I still have to rebuild from scratch.
“I’m fighting for other cancer survivors, and that’s the only way to stop this challenge.”
Ms Wainwright added that the £1.2m award would give her some room to recover without the financial pressure she has been experiencing.
“From the first day, I was under financial pressure.”
“ At that time I hope that once I have the opportunity to take this into account, I will invest in my future career.
Ms. Wainwright said during cancer treatment that she was fighting on behalf of other cancer survivors, adding: “The only way to stop this challenge”
“It was very disruptive and I had to start my career from scratch.
“It’s been a very turbulent few years.”
Ms. Wainwright has received a total salary of £1,224,861.94, including a previously announced emotional injury of £40,000.
The award also includes nearly £400,000 in past revenue losses, future losses of £300,000 and interest payments of £130,000.
