A FORMER trainee nurse won an employment tribunal against a Windermere vets' practice after describing how a bullying senior nurse made her ill.
Rachel Went lost weight, was physically sick and suffered asthma and migraine attacks because of harassment by her immediate senior, Elizabeth Pilgrim.
Miss Went, 25, of Church Street, Milnthorpe, remained in her job at Oakhill Veterinary Group until she completed her nursing course, last June, then quit.
Her former employers launched an investigation into her claims of bullying based on a diary she had kept and Mrs Pilgrim was given a formal written warning as a result.
She has left the practice and Miss Went has been unemployed since resigning.
Miss Went told the tribunal she walked out of her job in August 2002 and complained about Mrs Pilgrim but was persuaded to return after it was agreed she and Mrs Pilgrim would have less contact.
She said the bullying continued because the two women's shifts overlapped and in October and November she complained to two of the partners in the practice, vets Tony Samson and Stephen Dodwell, but nothing was done.
"I felt very let down by my employers not helping me," she said.
Mr Samson told the hearing, in Carlisle, he was "dumfounded" when Miss Went walked out in August 2002 and that she was a highly thought of employee.
He said he made extensive efforts to resolve the issue between the two women but was not aware of the level of the problem until she finally resigned.
Mr Dodwell said the vets in the small, busy practice did everything they reasonably could to monitor the situation after August 2002 and were constantly on the lookout for instances of bullying but did not see any.
He said Miss Went's sickness record was not enough to indicate there was a problem.
The tribunal panel said it was satisfied Miss Went found her working conditions intolerable because of bullying by Mrs Pilgrim and it caused her to be ill and to resign.
Although the vets carried out a thorough investigation afterwards, they should have done so earlier, especially as another woman employee had left her job after making the same complaint against Mrs Pilgrim.
The hearing was adjourned until March 8, when compensation for Miss Went will be assessed.
Afterwards she said: "I didn't want it to go as far as a tribunal but I was bullied out of my job and my employers didn't protect me when they should have."
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