A former HMRC worker has been ordered to pay £20,000 after losing a tribunal case he brought when he refused to return to the office following the Covid-19 lockdown. Martin Bentley, who worked as an assistant officer from 2012, claimed disability discrimination based on his anxiety, depression, and stage 3 kidney disease, but the tribunal in Liverpool ruled there was “no medical reason” for him not to return to work.
The tribunal heard that Mr Bentley was “prepared to use whatever means he could” to avoid returning to the office. Despite a 2021 occupational health report stating he was “fit for work” and that there was “no clinical barrier to working on the telephone,” Mr Bentley refused to comply with his employer’s expectation for staff to return to the office in early 2022. He did not return until his retirement in September 2024.
The tribunal panel found that HMRC “reluctantly” made adjustments for Mr Bentley, despite his poor performance and the lack of medical justification for a permanent change to home working. Employment Judge Dawn Shotter concluded that Mr Bentley had acted “vexatiously and abusively” in bringing the proceedings, which had “no reasonable prospect of success.” He has been ordered to pay £20,000 to HMRC.
Judge Shotter noted that Mr Bentley exaggerated his evidence regarding his health conditions. The judgment stated: “In short, the medical advice was that there was no medical reason for [Mr Bentley] refusing to return to work in the office.”
