Nurse dismissed for running aesthetics business while on sick leave: no disability discrimination

This case shows that even when an employee is signed off sick, they are not immune from disciplinary action if they engage in paid work without authorisation. The nurse, a pre-assessment nurse with 14 months' service, was dismissed after the Trust discovered she had been carrying out Botox and other aesthetics treatments while receiving NHS sick pay. The tribunal accepted that this was a clear breach of the Trust's policies and a misconduct issue, not a disability-related matter.

What could the Trust have done differently? The tribunal noted that the Trust followed a fair process, including a probationary review meeting where the nurse was given the opportunity to respond. The line manager's text message referring to a third party as 'mental' was found to be unprofessional but not discriminatory, as it was not aimed at the nurse or her disability. The anonymous referral to the NMC was also not linked to the nurse's protected acts.

The result matters because it reinforces that employers can take a firm line on misconduct during sick leave, as long as the decision is based on evidence and not on assumptions about the employee's disability. It also highlights the importance of keeping grievances and disciplinary processes separate: the nurse's grievance about her line manager was largely upheld, but that did not prevent the Trust from dismissing her for separate misconduct.