A London NHS blood donation worker has been awarded almost £30,000 in compensation after being compared to Star Wars villain Darth Vader.
Lorna Rooke began working for the NHS Blood and Transplant service (NHSBT) as a training and practice supervisor in 2003 and claimed the incident was one of the reasons for her resignation in 2021.
Members of Ms Rooke’s team completed a Star Wars themed Myers-Briggs personality test in August 2021, with the results characterising each worker as a Star Wars character.
Amanda Harber, a colleague of Ms Rooke, carried out the test on her behalf when she left the meeting to take a call, and the results concluded that Ms Rooke fell into the Darth Vader category.
The tribunal heard how the ‘Darth Vader’ category was described as a ‘very focused individual who brings the team together’. However, the judge was not convinced that the categorisation had any positive attributes. ‘Darth Vader is a legendary villain of the Star Wars series, and being aligned with his personality is insulting,’ Judge Kathryn Ramsden said.
The judge also went on to say that on the basis the test was done on the perception of another colleague and then shared with the group, it was ‘little wonder’ that Ms Rooke was upset by it. It said that Ms Rooke was made to feel ‘unpopular’ and suffered from low mood and anxiety in relation to her work environment.
The tribunal dismissed Ms Rooke’s Constructive Dismissal claim as it did not feel that the incident itself had prompted her to resign, but said it was a ‘detriment’ on the grounds of her having made a protected disclosure regarding the NHBST’s omission in a question on a new blood donor safety check that was due to ‘go live’ the following month.
It found that the employer’s refusal to agree to her request to retract her resignation was a further detriment.
Ms Rooke won her Whistleblowing claim but lost claims for unfair dismissal, disability discrimination, and failure to make reasonable adjustments. She was awarded £28,989.61 in compensation.
It is important for employers to recognise that although such activities may be intended to be light-hearted, there is a potential risk of causing offense. What one employee considers a harmless joke or playful behaviour might be perceived differently by another.
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