City law firm unfairly dismissed lawyer who suffered from ‘extreme fatigue’
City law firm Duncan Lewis could be forced to pay thousands of pounds in compensation after a court ruled the firm unfairly dismissed a solicitor who suffered from “extreme fatigue”.
Chinedu Orogbu, a director in the firm’s housing department, was dismissed from Duncan Lewis on 12 November 2020, and later filed a claim for unfair dismissal.
The firm argued that he failed to properly carry out his duties for 70 days between April and October 2020. The firm also said that he did not meet his billings-to-salary target at any stage of his employment since he started in 2018.
Orogbu admitted to the East London Employment Tribunal that he was absent from work for 70 days and that he did not report the absences or provide evidence of them as is required by the firm’s procedures.
But Orogbu argued that he had emailed the firm’s managing director Nina Joshi in May 2020 to inform her that he was unwell.
In a performance interview, Joshi told him that he was under-performing from the start and that his performance was “wholly unacceptable”, according to the ruling, which was published late last week.
Joshi told Orogbu that he had committed “gross misconduct” by not reporting his absences.
The firm argued that it “had suspicions” that Orogbu’s failure to report his absence was an act of “dishonesty”.
But Employment Judge Gordon Walker ruled that Duncan Lewis made assumptions about the Orogbu’s ability to comply with the firm’s procedures, “which were not based on medical evidence”.
The tribunal also found that the reason he was unable to report his absence during the period of his absence was because of his ill health, and made no finding of dishonesty.
Walker said he Orogbu’s “extreme fatigue” meant he “was found to be disabled person”, noting that his illness got worse during the Covid-19 lockdown in March 2020.
Judge Walker ruled that Orogbu’s claim of unfair dismissal was “well founded” and upheld part of his disability discrimination claim against his former firm.
A spokesperson for Duncan Lewis told CityAM it was appealing the ruling.
It is unclear exactly how much compensation Orogbu is seeking, but a hearing is set to take place on the matter in the coming months. His legal representative was contacted for comment.