I'm reaching out for some guidance and support after being terminated from my job at a parcel sorting facility. The reason? My prescribed cannabis use for C-PTSD and related issues.
When I joined the company, I was upfront about my prescription at the end of my first day. Upon their request, I provided them with a copy of my prescriptions, a letter from my clinic, and a copy of guidelines relating to cannabis use under the Equality Act.
Following this, I was placed on a paid suspension for nearly a month. This was to facilitate a discussion with an occupational therapist. However, during my session with the therapist, I wasn't asked anything about my cannabis use. Despite this, I assumed they had all the relevant information, especially since I had already submitted extensive documentation.
To my surprise, I received an email informing me of my termination. The reason cited was a failure to disclose information during my session with the occupational therapist - which is puzzling since I wasn't asked about it. The only other explanation given was "safety concerns," but my job primarily involved sorting parcels into bags and loading them onto a trolley. If you can drive while legal medicated with cannabis (as long as you feel safe to do so) it seems a bit extreme.
I've filed complaints with both the agency and the company and have initiated a process with ACAS.
I'm seeking advice on how to proceed. This termination feels unfair and potentially discriminatory, given my medical condition and the nature of my job. Has anyone else faced a similar situation? Any suggestions on how I proceed?
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51 comments
Gibby
- 3mth
Rep: 3941 Lvl: Gold
I would take some legal advice under the anti discrimination laws and where, if memory serves, a conversation on reasonable adjustments should have been had.
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GlenBot
- 3mth
Rep: 4195 Lvl: Gold
So many comments here say “sue them” and normally I think “its not always that easy”.
I read this and all I can say is sue them. Do it.
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Hotboxer
- 3mth
Rep: 4040 Lvl: Gold
They gave you the run-around. Sue them whilst looking for other work.
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Davidt
- 3mth
Rep: 4008 Lvl: Gold
There is no ‘potential’ of discrimination here. It is discrimination. You have a right to your medication. I wonder if the same treatment would be given to someone prescribed more mainstream amphetamine based medications like used for ADHD…🤔probably not is my hunch.
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Pepperbear
- 3mth
Rep: 5279 Lvl: Gold
Speak to a solicitor today OP
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Ihopeyouknow
- 3mth
Rep: 3963 Lvl: Gold
Someone's about to get a payout....
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Gibby
- 3mth
Rep: 3941 Lvl: Gold
First thing to do is to contact the LRA, open a case and tell them you are open to early conciliation.
Then you want to get on the phone to the Equality Commission, they will love this. Free solicitor, barrister, and human rights lawyer.
You got this OP.
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Laker
- 3mth
Rep: 4990 Lvl: Gold
your protected characteristic under the 2010 equality act also maybe add the occupational health has to be trained in medical cannabis as it would been an unprofessional opinion i would appeal it and ask for her credentials in medical cannabis
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Stort
- 3mth
Rep: 4229 Lvl: Gold
Sounds like you’re doing the right thing. Please speak with the solicitor Guy from seed our future.
https://www.seedourfuture.co.uk/
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Samhoi
- 3mth
Rep: 5756 Lvl: Gold
Sounds like unfair dismissal. Appeal it and take them to employment tribunal. Then find a mother job with an employer that will work with rather than against you.
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Spaceman7
- 3mth
Rep: 3246 Lvl: Gold
Thats very suprising because usually HR (which know employment law) would have known the damaging outcome for the buisness if you got dismissed.
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Ellisahen
- 3mth
Rep: 5783 Lvl: Gold
You have so many potential claims here that you should be laughing your way out of the door. Discrimination under the Equality Act 2010 for one, unfair dismissal for another. Plus all the psychological stress you’re under is *exacerbating your CPTSD* right? 🙃
Just think of all the MC that’s going to be paid for by all of those settlements…
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Timdude
- 3mth
Rep: 3914 Lvl: Gold
You are in for a nice juicy claim and I would dare say the papers will want to hear from you. Good luck dude
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Yvonne
- 3mth
Rep: 4602 Lvl: Gold
Sue them
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Larryhob
- 3mth
Rep: 3952 Lvl: Gold
Under UK law, a disability Is "any illness or ailment lasting more than 12months" so you'd be well within your rights to contact the equality commission for help and guidance for being terminated for reasons relating to your disability.
Please update us all with the outcome. Fat pay check coming your way I would think.
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AlanVem
- 3mth
Rep: 3825 Lvl: Gold
Claim up!
I'm shure you are looking at a couple of qiuds.
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Medicated81
- 3mth
Rep: 3692 Lvl: Gold
This is almost definitely an unfair dismissal. I would seek independent legal advice as well as going via ACAS. Leigh Day solicitors do a lot of disability related cases so may be worth contacting them, or trying a local equalities solicitor if you have one. Many will often do a free consultation of 30 minutes.
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Ellisahen
- 3mth
Rep: 5783 Lvl: Gold
This is discrimination. Get legal advice, be ruthless, take as much as you can.
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Dudley86
- 3mth
Rep: 5933 Lvl: Gold
Sorry you’ve had to go through this.
Also congrats on the payday.
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Porgo
- 3mth
Rep: 4470 Lvl: Gold
Start a gofund me and take legal action
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Andy1010101010
- 3mth
Rep: 5336 Lvl: Gold
TLDR: Obviously, if you can face the legal route, go for it. But, if your CPTSD itself means this option is too dangerous for your health, though, you may be able to offer them a simple solution to make it all go away. They've messed up their own process, as well as legally, and if you point out how much trouble they're in, they may be willing to just fix it to make the problem go away. Check this out legally if you think it might be what you need.
Long version:
I'm sorry this happend, OP, it's so stressful and unfair. Everyone else's advice about taking them to court is good, and if you feel you can take it, best of luck to you.
That said, as someone with CPTSD, personally, I've walked away from clear-cut discrimination situations where I could've made a claim for a lot of money, just because I knew I couldn't handle the toll the process would take on my health. I cannot keep myself safe under that amount of prolonged stress, because my body treats every second of it as life-threatening danger. With any kind of CPTSD, this is something to think about. If you can't face a court case, and being unemployed while it goes on, that's okay. Only you know how triggering this would be for you, and whether it's something you can get through for the weeks and months it needs.
If you just need it over and you want your job back, there is probably an easier fix here. Run this by ACAS and some proper legal advice, but it's highly likely they haven't followed their own process, and you could just point that out with legal backing and ask them to redo your assessment. If someone more qualified agrees, you could potentially do something like this.
Send them a polite and formal letter saying:
- you've sought legal advice on this as a matter of discrimination under the Equalities Act and been told you have a case
- you don't want to go down that route but you will if you have to, and this is your attempt to propose a mutually beneficial solution
- you feel there's been a breach of process in their decision making
- OH didn't ask about this medication and you believed they had been given sufficient information already. You trusted the doctor to seek any information they needed, and you didn't withhold anything. You feel the doctor has been remiss/negligent in not asking. (If you like, add something like this: As someone with CPTSD, you do have significant trauma and are compliant in healthcare settings and the doctor should have known to speak clearly, be upfront, and make the process clear to you. You can also point out your weren't asked for reasonable adjustments for the appointment (if you weren't), and if you had been, this misunderstanding would have been avoided.
- They can't make meaningful judgements about any safety risk without the doctor asking those questions and assessing the risk based on your answers, which you weren't given the opportunity to provide. Any judgement made is not applicable to your situation without this information.
- you would propose the best outcome for everyone is that they simply reinstate you on sick pay, reschedule your OH appointment with a new, trauma-informed doc, and ensure the doctor has a clear understanding of what the employer needs from the appointment
- you then just do the OH appointment again, and they update their risk assessment, and, dependant on the outcome, you come back to work.
I think this would work, if you just want it all to go away as soon as possible (I've done something similar). A solicitor won't suggest it, because a quick fix means less money in fees for them, and they want the business and publicity of having it out in court. But there isn't anything there that would stop you bringing a case later, if they still fired you at the end of it - but they'd have no grounds to do so, and you'd have already told them, so it would be clear cut. They might even offer a payoff if you just go quietly. Check it with someone qualified, but something like this might be worth a try, if you can't face the fight. Best of luck, whatever you do.
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Killerhazard
- 3mth
Rep: 4753 Lvl: Gold
I’m so sorry to hear this, I constantly advise everyone to not disclose their cannabis use to an employer as it will only be used against you. They will use legal loophole such as company employed OTs and health and safety. I usually get a bad response but it’s imperative to know employers genuinely don’t really care about people’s personal circumstances. Business exist for one reason only.
You don’t deserve what’s happened to you and I really hope you manage to find yourself something new. My only advice comrade is to keep everything in your personal life personal only every share information if it’s an absolute must. Even if it’s a drug test - wait for the outcome and then use your prescription in response.
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GruzT
- 3mth
Rep: 3926 Lvl: Gold
Definitely need to speak to a solicitor and sue the shit out of them,speak to your clinic as much as possible as they may be able to point you in the right direction
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Bruno
- 3mth
Rep: 6255 Lvl: Gold
https://www.equalityadvisoryservice.com/
These guys do a webchat that I've used, I find it easier than calling x
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Ivano
- 3mth
Rep: 3589 Lvl: Gold
Call ACAS immediately.
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Gibby
- 3mth
Rep: 3941 Lvl: Gold
Damn I'm sorry. Out of interest is this with royal mail? Cause that's my job an I'm pretty worried now
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Jax
- 3mth
Rep: 4153 Lvl: Gold
Speak to this guy. He's interested in these discrimination cases:
James Wilkes
Senior Consultant Solicitor
0330 058 4012 then dial ext. 1002 M: 07864 140 059 Email: jwilkes@setfords.co.uk
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Hal9
- 3mth
Rep: 4703 Lvl: Gold
You’ve done the right thing contacting ACAS. Ordinarily you can only claim unfair dismissal if you have more than 2 years service. However, you may have a claim under disability discrimination. How you state your claim can make a difference.
Valla can help you put your claim into a format that will make a tribunal more likely to find in your favour - it’s free to start with but you can pay for add ons or support with your claim and it can be a lot cheaper than a solicitor. A lot of tribunal claims fail not because the claimant has no claim but because they struggle to articulate how their claim is covered by the law and Valla is pretty good at helping make sense of that for little to no cost.
https://valla.uk
Might be worth exploring some of the other recommendations here too if some have specialist knowledge of medical cannabis.
Another thing to look at is the company’s policies because of a tribunal finds they’ve failed to follow their own policies it can result in an uplift to the amount of compensation awarded. Hopefully it won’t get to that stage though, if your claim has a reasonable chance of success then the employer’s solicitor will hopefully at least have the sense to advise them to settle. It may be that they’ve been advised to try their luck and hope you don’t have the knowledge or funds to pursue a claim. Unfortunately that happens.
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GlenBot
- 3mth
Rep: 4195 Lvl: Gold
im astounded they gave you a reason at all.
there less than 2 years, you have very few employment rights other than those covered by disability discrimination.
i worked for a company who used an outside legal advice firm, and was told that the way to sack someone is to tell them to fuck off and dont give them a reason for fear of giving them ammunition for a discrimination claim.
somebody made a fucky wucky here.
get ready for a nice big out of court settlement.
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Mupps
- 3mth
Rep: 3786 Lvl: Gold
Please keep us updated on how you get on. I hope you persue legal action and win.
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Wendy85
- 3mth
Rep: 4019 Lvl: Gold
Aw nice little payout coming your way
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MelvinMC
- 3mth
Rep: 5939 Lvl: Gold
Oh boy, get in touch with ACAS and a solicitor and enjoy that payout
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Yvonne
- 3mth
Rep: 4602 Lvl: Gold
How long had you been employed ? If it’s uunder 3 months they can sack you with zero reason legally.
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CharlesHob
- 3mth
Rep: 3613 Lvl: Gold
All I can say is enjoy the money you win in your wrongful termination case
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Samhoi
- 3mth
Rep: 5756 Lvl: Gold
Get legal advice & get as much evidence in writing as possible. It's discrimination so you should be due some compensation
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HenryBig
- 3mth
Rep: 4657 Lvl: Gold
ACAS. NOW.
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TravisMe
- 3mth
Rep: 3992 Lvl: Gold
Employment tribunal, this is unfair dismissal you've done nothing wrong
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Runt
- 3mth
Rep: 5031 Lvl: Gold
r/legaladviceuk might be of some help to you
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MelvinMC
- 3mth
Rep: 5939 Lvl: Gold
No workers rights in the UK unless been employed for 2yrs, don’t have a leg to stand on.
Move on and focus on you, not your agency/employer.
Waste of time…..
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Andy1010101010
- 3mth
Rep: 5336 Lvl: Gold
Under the equality act 2010 this is discrimination
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AnnaSak
- 3mth
Rep: 4171 Lvl: Gold
Legally, they are fucked, and you have a strong case here to take them to tribunal for an easy win.
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KevinBop
- 3mth
Rep: 3739 Lvl: Gold
Firstly - sorry to hear this, its not a fun situation to be in for anyone.
How long have you been with them? that has a large impact on the potential outcome here, if it's less than 2 years they can terminate you at will without providing a reason (the fact they appear to have given a reason here may cause them problems, but regardless the point stands). This would be regardless of your cannabis use or condition.
Secondly - what do you want the outcome to be? Do you want to work for this company (are you wanting to fight for your job) or do you want to take them to court over their treatment of you?
If the latter - its worth considering the size of the company and their finances, not for any protection of the company but more to see if its worth the stress and time to put into such a case.
ACAS or a solicitor is next port of call. On this subreddit you will likely just get lots of replies of "sue them", and "this is awful they are <insert insult here>" - none of that is really helpful as the devil will be in the detail.
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Spaceman7
- 3mth
Rep: 3246 Lvl: Gold
I got dismissed from my last job after disclosing my prescription. I ended up getting a £11,000 settlement.
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Scdler
- 3mth
Rep: 4002 Lvl: Gold
Start sending emails to solicitors and cc the people who emailed you.
It'll ruffle some feathers 🤣🤣🤣
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Gibby
- 3mth
Rep: 3941 Lvl: Gold
One other thing, you don’t have to disclose medical issues. Unless they impair you being able to do your job properly and then employer would have to make reasonable adjustments.
Apart from that medical issues are private.
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ZebraGurl
- 3mth
Rep: 3791 Lvl: Gold
Don’t delay, claim today
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Cappy8
- 3mth
Rep: 3781 Lvl: Gold
You have a case. I'd be all over it if I read a lawyer. As a lawyer it would be with my interests financially to take your case. Do it!
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Trippy
- 3mth
Rep: 3941 Lvl: Gold
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Trippy
- 3mth
Rep: 3941 Lvl: Gold
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Davidt
- 3mth
Rep: 4008 Lvl: Gold
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Matthewdem
- 3mth
Rep: 4427 Lvl: Gold
Employment laws might be no THC in employees. Employment laws differ from company to company.
If you had a contract it should be in that defining the companies standards on THC medical or otherwise.
You could have a case for discrimination, but I sadly don't feel you will get very far with this.
Makes me so angry because prescription morphine won't lose you a job
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