A retired canoe polo athlete has won a payout of nearly £150,000 after her boss summoned her for a meeting then didn’t bother showing up – even though she drove back overnight from Germany to attend.
Gold medallist Bethan Littlewood had to pause her trip away and drive back to the UK because her manager ordered her to attend a meeting at the last minute. The 29-year-old, who was working as a personal trainer at Nuffield Health, arrived on time – only to find out that her boss was “double booked” and was attending a training elsewhere.
Ms Littlewood, who won gold in canoe polo for Great Britain at the 2019 European Championships, said that the incident was the “last straw” and resigned. She went to the employment tribunal, successfully claiming unfair dismissal, unauthorised deductions from wages, holiday pay, and being subjected to a detriment for making protected disclosure.
The tribunal heard that Ms Littlewood had reported a fitness manager, Declan Morris, in June 2022 for carrying out a Ministry of Defence fitness test on someone with elevated blood pressure. From that month onwards, Mr Morris began withholding three hours of pay a week from Ms Littlewood. She made a complaint about him in October 2022, saying he was hostile and bullying her.
In June 2023, Ms Littlewood was in Germany for the Canoe Polo European Championships when she was told she had to attend a meeting on September 12. She drove back through the night, but her boss failed to show. The tribunal found in her favour, awarding her £149,000 in compensation.
