V&A settles with former employee dismissed over ‘bullying’ behaviour

The Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A) has settled a compensation case with a former technician who won a claim for unfair dismissal after being sacked over allegations of bullying by another employee.

The claimant’s compensation was due to be decided in a two-day hearing starting today (24 April), but did not go ahead after a settlement was reached out of court.

Employed by the V&A since 2016, the claimant was dismissed without notice in April 2023 for gross misconduct following a complaint that, from early 2022, she had bullied a female co-worker with whom she had been romantically involved three years before.

A tribunal in January ruled the museum’s actions were disproportionate and that autism had impaired the claimant’s judgement over her behaviour.

During the tribunal, the V&A said that while the organisation knew the claimant suffered from depression and anxiety, it could not have known she also has an autistic spectrum disorder (ASD), for which she was later diagnosed in December 2024.

However, the judge said there was enough supporting evidence that the museum should have considered ASD as underlying her actions, despite her not formally raising the condition as an issue during internal complaints procedures.

Unwelcome attention

The tribunal, overseen by Employment Judge Goodman, heard that the claimant’s unwelcome behaviour had included sending “excessive email” to the co-worker, even after she had been asked to restrict it, leaving her colleague feeling “harassed” and “constantly on edge at work”.

The co-worker made a formal complaint of bullying in July 2022, after which the claimant was suspended pending an investigation.

Carried out by the museum’s director of exhibitions, the disciplinary investigation determined that the volume of correspondence the claimant had sent the co-worker was “surprisingly high” and that she had been “taking advantage of their respective roles” to engage in contact.

The claimant’s manager told the investigator that she had exhibited some behavioural issues, such as delivering things aggressively, speaking out of line and attending a departmental meeting from the side of the road.

However, the court heard it was not indicated to him at this stage, by the claimant or others, that she exhibited signs of autism, and the complaint was upheld, proceeding to a formal disciplinary hearing.

The V&A decided to run the hearing concurrently with a grievance process after the claimant filed a complaint against HR and her management team, alleging bullying and a lack of support, as well as concerns about the fairness of the disciplinary investigation process.

Struggling with ‘grey areas’

During the disciplinary process, which was chaired by the museum’s head of procurement, the claimant was questioned about whether her nature had come across as pushy in the past.

She said, “I tend to be to the point”, adding, “my whole family is on the autistic spectrum. I’ve not been diagnosed, but find it hard to see social cues. [I acknowledge] I may have a level of autism”.

Concerns were also raised during the disciplinary process by several staff members. A senior HR member said that following the informal complaints, the claimant had been “very literal”, needed a lot of detail, “struggled with grey areas” and tended to “sit in her own space and not see other versions of what had happened”.

In his ruling, the judge said: “All these [comments] should have made [the head of procurement] consider whether autism, with or without depression, accounted for what was otherwise seen as deliberate disobedience and bullying.

“She had raised it, he had supporting evidence from others, and he himself had enough non-specialist knowledge of the condition to recognise its relevance to the conduct being considered.

“Had he asked occupational health for a view, with or without an assessment, very likely he would have concluded that her conduct arose at least in part from autism, in conjunction with the depression which affected her judgment and will power.”

Dismissal without final warning

Following the disciplinary hearing, the claimant was dismissed without notice for bullying.

The tribunal upheld the claimant’s complaint of unfair and wrongful dismissal, saying it was an “error” not to focus on “other ways of dealing with the behaviour, such as mediation.

However, the judge ruled that the claimant’s award be reduced by 25% as the tribunal concluded that with a fair process, she may still have been sacked.

The V&A declined to comment on the settlement.