Woman suffering from depression after finding out her husband was gay sues her employers for cutting her sick pay

A woman successfully sued her employers, Holland and Barrett, after they cut her sick pay for being off work after finding out her husband was gay.

According to reports;

A mother-of two who became depressed when her husband told her he was gay has successfully sued her employers Holland and Barrett for slashing her sick pay.

Olga Gofmane, a manager of one of the company’s branches, moved out of the family home after her former husband brought his boyfriend to the house.

When Holland and Barrett reclaimed her sick pay after she had been signed off work by a doctor, Mrs Gofmane was left with just £1.50 a month.

She sued the company for breach of contract.

The tribunal, at Reading, Berkshire, heard how the 34-year-old told had been diagnosed with clinical depression after the breakdown of her twelve-year marriage.

When she did see a doctor, on March 20 last year, they advised her to go off work immediately and signed her off. A friend of hers called her line manager to break the news and the following day contacted the firm’s HR department. Mrs Gofmane discovered her sick pay had been deducted when she received her payslip for April. She said: ‘It can be seen from my payslips that my company sick pay was reclaimed, despite the company paying statutory sick pay.

The panel heard that the desperate mother had to get an emergency loan from a friend in Switzerland and also went back to work early, against her doctor’s advice.

Holland and Barrett later paid the money, following a grievance brought by Mrs Gofmane, but the tribunal has now ruled that their actions were in breach of the contract.

Image DailyMail

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