An employment tribunal judge delivered a verdict in favor of a woman who was fired from her job at an ambulance trust after her wife assaulted their boss. Stacey Smith, a former patient transport worker at the North West Ambulance Service (NWAS), was sentenced to 25 years in prison for attempting to kill her and her wife’s boss, Michala Morton, in a hammer attack.
The judge found that Paula, who was unfairly dismissed by her employers due to her connection with her wife, was wrongly treated. Paula, who was initially arrested on suspicion of harassment and threats against the manager, was later cleared of any wrongdoing by the police. Despite her lack of involvement in the assault, Paula was terminated from her job shortly after the police dropped their investigation.
Following a tribunal decision, it was ruled that Paula’s dismissal was unjust, and she is entitled to a £14,000 payout. The judge emphasized that Paula’s only link to the incident was her marriage to Stacey and questioned the significance of this connection in determining her employment status. The judge concluded that the public was unlikely to associate any risk with Paula based on her marital relationship.
Judge Holmes criticized the trust for heavily focusing on Paula’s arrest and bail conditions, which had not been publicized. The tribunal highlighted that the general public would unlikely make any negative connection between Paula and the incident involving her wife’s assault on their boss.