Nurse awarded £25,000 after colleague rolled her eyes at her
A dental nurse who experienced repeated 'eye-rolling' from a colleague at work was awarded over £25,000 in an employment tribunal.
Maureen Howieson was given £25,254 after the tribunal heard that she suffered 'bullying and belittling' at the Great Junction Dental Practice in Edinburgh.
The 64-year-old's relationship with Jisna Iqbal, a new dental therapist, became 'strained' shortly after she joined the practice last July.
Howieson had over 40 years of experience in dentistry, but due to arthritis, her primary role at the clinic was on reception, rather than performing nursing duties.
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Iqbal, however, was a qualified dentist in India but was not yet eligible to perform dentistry in the UK.
As reported by The Times, court documents stated that she took over Howieson’s receptionist duties that had been reduced without her knowledge.
Iqbal was said to have refused to carry out certain tasks and was being 'rude' to Howieson in the process, 'repeatedly' rolling her eyes whenever she spoke, it was heard.
Daniela Siersch, another dentist at the practice, reiterated Howieson’s account of events, which included Iqbal's alleged refusal to carry out certain tasks.
When asked to clean a toilet area before an inspection, it was claimed that her response was that 'she was a dentist'.
In October 2024, following a panic attack at work that resulted in tears, Howieson resigned from the company.
Dr Fary Johnson Vithayathil admitted that 'there had been issues with Mrs Iqbal before', and did nothing about it.
Employment Judge Ronald Mackay said the Great Junction Dental Practice was unable to address Howieson’s issues amid an 'ongoing hostile working environment'.
Mackay noted that the employer knew what was happening but 'did nothing to stop it', as well as committing 'multiple repudiatory breaches' of her contract and unfair constructive dismissal.
Assurances given to her ‘were not kept’, he added.
When it comes to bullying at work, the National Bullying Helpline said that 'bullying generally refers to being subjected to repeated emotional or even physical abuse'.
"The workplace bully deliberately manipulates, belittles, intimidates and tries to control or undermine their victim using any means available to them.
"In this digital age, the workplace bully’s playground has now extended to cyberbullying with the use of email, mobile phones and social media sites like Twitter (X) or Facebook," they added.
"Bullying at work and anti social behaviour resulting in stress, is a fact of life for too many workers in the UK but your employer has a ‘Duty of Care’ to provide a safe and stress-free place of work for all staff."
LADbible Group has contacted Jisna Iqbal and the Great Junction Dental Practice for comment.
Anish Vij