Edinburgh NHS nurse claiming 'racial discrimination' has case thrown out by tribunal
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A racial discrimination case brought by an Edinburgh nurse against her NHS Lothian employers has been thrown out by an employment tribunal judge.
Jacqueline Abizie McKendrick, 54, attempted to sue the Lothian Health Board for discrimination she claimed took place in 2023 while she was employed at the Royal Edinburgh Hospital.
Edinburgh Live covered the preliminary hearing at the Employment Tribunal on April 24 where Ms McKendrick alleged she suffered "verbally abusive" treatment and "discriminatory" behaviour due to being black Ghanaian.
Employment Judge Sutherland released a decision on May 12 deeming the case had "no reasonable prospects of success" based on the evidence presented by Ms McKendrick.
Ms McKendrick worked as a nurse for over seven years on the Royal Edinburgh's rapid response team, a community mental health crisis team primarily serving older adults and those with young-onset dementia.
She claimed members of staff "used an aggressive and intimidating tone" which was "only used with me and not other white colleagues".
The nurse described poor treatment from higher-ups, such as when she was required to call her superior on a "daily basis" even though her father-in-law was terminally ill. On another occasion, she said she was told she needed to change back into her uniform and was "not allowed to leave" work - which she felt was discriminatory.
She also took issue with senior management. She said: 'If you offended one person, the whole team is against you. It's like a gang in the rapid response team. There are cliques on the team. We're supposed to be one team. But the way [my superior] selects the team, it's mostly her friends."
Ms McKendrick resigned in September 2023 due to the outcome of an internal investigation into a grievance she lodged regarding discriminatory treatment.
The nurse claimed the investigation itself was discriminatory because no one initially appointed to the investigation panel was black.
Employment Judge Sutherland clarified that "a poor investigation of racism isn't of itself racist' and asked Ms McKendrick to provide specific evidence the investigation was discriminatory.
Employment solicitor Ms Kerr, representing the Lothian Health Board, said this was "clearly not a basis for discrimination".
Ms McKendrick said: 'I'm not saying everyone on the panel should look like me. I was intimidated . . . At that point, I'd lost all confidence or hope with the whole system and I felt my employer had let me down."
Ms Kerr sought to strike the allegations against the Lothian Health Board. She said: "The claimant has not given facts why [her treatment] was racial. She has merely asserted that because she didn't like the way she was being treated, that it must have been discriminatory.
Judge Sutherland said: 'You have been treated badly and have a protected characteristic but you need to prove that you've been treated badly because of race.
"The respondent is saying there are little to no prospect [for success on the claims]. I need to determine whether that's enough [for the case to proceed]."
As part of final remarks, Ms McKendrick told the court: 'If taken in isolation, it might not amount to discrimination. But taken together, the stuff that happened to me didn't happen to other non-black nurses.
"Lothian Health's view is this isn't a case [and] everything I narrated has an innocent explanation and was normal procedure. I am asking the tribunal to not strike my case. My financial situation is I have no money. The Health Board is trying to avoid the consequences of how they dealt with my case."
Ms McKendrick said she was "struggling to make ends meet". Judge Sutherland later asked whether she had made enquiries to do work other than nursing. Ms McKendrick said she had not.
Employment Judge Sutherland will review all information from the preliminary hearing and decide whether the case will proceed.
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