Kirstin Ridley

LONDON (Reuters] – NatWest Group has filed a claim for 2 million pound plus compensation ($2.7million) after a London tribunal ruled the company had unfairly dismissed an employee two days after she underwent cancer treatment.

Adeline Willis was 44 years old and had been a risk and compliance officer at the bank since 2006. She said she was in emotional and physical turmoil following her 2020 job, eight months after receiving a diagnosis for bowel cancer.

However, the tribunal determined that Willis’s recorded phone call, a few days after she was diagnosed, where Willis’s managers sought out advice from the Human Resources department to terminate a secondment before her scheduled time for treatment was up, was evidence of discriminatory intent.

Will Clayton of Constantine Law represented Willis.

Clayton explained that “the next step is ensure that Ms Willis gets fully compensated for both her losses as well as the discrimination that they have suffered,” and that there was a possibility that this case could be worth more than 2 million pounds.

Natwest acknowledged the “extremely challenging personal circumstances” in the case, and said that it would be reviewing the judgement to determine its position.

London Central Employment Tribunal rejected claims by the bank that Willis’s job at 160,000 Pounds per Year was redundant. They ruled that Willis’s dismissal was “tainted” with discrimination.

Under the UK Equality Act 2010, cancer is recognized as a disability. This protects sufferers against discrimination.

If both sides are unable to agree on the damages amount, the court schedules a hearing for April 25-26.

($1 = 0.7346 pounds)