Dyslexic police officer awarded £25,000 for forced resignation

A dyslexic police officer who was branded “lazy” has won £25,000 compensation after being forced to resign because of his disability.

Owen Brooking claimed Essex Police left him no option but to leave after he was repeatedly ordered to re-do paperwork and superior officers bullied him and accused him of laziness.

An employment tribunal awarded the former police officer £20,000 for injured feelings, plus £5,125 for loss of earnings.

Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance

Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday

Email(Required)

OptOut

From time to time, we will send you emails about selected products, events and services from Personnel Today and OHW+ - but you can choose to opt-out at any time. If you do not wish to receive these emails, please tick this box.

Name

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Δ

Judge Julia Jones said Brooking had suffered “personal and sustained” bullying while working at South Woodham Ferrers police station. “It was a period of repeated acts of discrimination with the purpose and intention to get him to resign,” she added.

Assistant chief constable Derek Benson of Essex Police said: “Essex Police is disappointed with the outcome of this case and will give careful consideration to the tribunal’s findings.”