Is attending a gay event when you are off sick with m.e. grounds for dismissal fair?

bobsa1 · 31 January 2008 at 7:13PM

I'm currently signed off work as I have depression and have been specifically instructed by my Doctor to get out and about everyday and that this is the best thing for your mental health.

This may not fit the op's sepcific situation but does show that being ill does not mean being unable to leave the house.

pavlovs_dog · 31 January 2008 at 7:18PM

chuckles1066 wrote: »

That's an obscene analogy and I trust you'll withdraw it.

Chelsea pensioners, by definition, are deemed by the State as being too old to work.........and besides which, they've done their bit for Queen and country.

Don't cheapen their existence by comparing them to otherwise healthy and able younger individuals choosing to attend a Gay Pride march.

i didnt sense any attempt to offend or be obscene in his analogy

the point being made was that you don't need to be a picture of health to leave the house to support a cause you feel duty bound to.

ME is a very misunderstood disease, and unless you've lived with it or anything similar i dont think you can truly appreciate the ups and downs it brings. a few years ago i shared a flat with an ME sufferer who would one day feel like she could run a marathon, the next not be able to roll over in bed. outwardly she looked perfectly healthy and 'normal' but sadly for those with invisible illnesses that often isnt the case

Horace · 31 January 2008 at 7:24PM

I think that your employer was right to sack you - if you were well enough to attend a parade then you were well enough to go to work. I don't see the need to say that you were attending a gay event however, you should be smart enough to realise that these things are often televised and are certainly filmed by the police (I know this from an ex policeman).

Consider this a lesson learned.

LuciferTDark · 31 January 2008 at 7:24PM

It doesn't really matter what the OP got up to at the parade, the simple fact is that the employer sees a worker, who is supposed to be signed off too sick to work, out having a good time in public instead of working.

superscaper · 31 January 2008 at 7:52PM

chuckles1066 wrote: »

That's an obscene analogy and I trust you'll withdraw it.

Chelsea pensioners, by definition, are deemed by the State as being too old to work.........and besides which, they've done their bit for Queen and country.

Don't cheapen their existence by comparing them to otherwise healthy and able younger individuals choosing to attend a Gay Pride march.

Completely missed the point. As pavlovs_dog said, I was merely pointing out that merely attending an event doesn't demonstrate in itself that you are fit to work. I at no point equated the OP to a chelsea penioner, I was merely giving an example to demonstrate my point that you can't generalise that anyone attending an event is fit. I'm sorry if you found it offensive but I think you've completely misinferred the sentiment of my post. We don't know the specific circumstances of the OP's situation which is why I gave completely juxtaposed positions within the same post (the first part of my post that you didn't quote) that it could be fair or not depending on what the exact situation (which we don't know) was.

superscaper · 31 January 2008 at 7:54PM

pavlovs_dog wrote: »

ME is a very misunderstood disease, and unless you've lived with it or anything similar i dont think you can truly appreciate the ups and downs it brings. a few years ago i shared a flat with an ME sufferer who would one day feel like she could run a marathon, the next not be able to roll over in bed. outwardly she looked perfectly healthy and 'normal' but sadly for those with invisible illnesses that often isnt the case

I think it's quite misunderstood on this thread as well. Again we don't know the circumstance of the OP but I know sufferers who actually try to go into work when they're feeling well and end up being sent home by the company because they just fall apart and can't do anything but when it comes to going out to get groceries etc on their good days it's fine.

I'm not saying the OP shouldn't have been sacked but knowing people with ME and from the words just "attending" and event isn't enough in itself to actually mean they deserve to get sacked and that they were genuinely capable of going into work. I think there's a bit of assumption and jumping to conclusions without actually knowing enough in this case.

The only thing to go on is that if there was a works tribunal all of this should be addressed (but not necessarily) so I can only err on the side of the tribunal knew what they were doing and had the full facts where we on this thread don't.

dmg24 · 31 January 2008 at 7:55PM

LuciferTDark wrote: »

It doesn't really matter what the OP got up to at the parade, the simple fact is that the employer sees a worker, who is supposed to be signed off too sick to work, out having a good time in public instead of working.

I would agree to this to some extent, but as bobsa1 said, in some conditions going out is all a part of the recovery process, and staying home day after day would make the condition worse.

We really need more details ...

LuciferTDark · 31 January 2008 at 7:58PM

That's as may be but on the OP's good day instead of trying to go to work they went out for a good time, normal everyday stuff is fine but this was a big public party (for want of a better description) & should be classed as off limits when signed off too sick to work.

dmg24 · 31 January 2008 at 8:00PM

LuciferTDark wrote: »

That's as may be but on the OP's good day instead of trying to go to work they went out for a good time, normal everyday stuff is fine but this was a big public party (for want of a better description) & should be classed as off limits when signed off too sick to work.

You don't really understand mental illness, do you?!

Having looked at the OP's previous posts (I'm nosy!), I feel that this is a much more complex case than described above. I would be interested to know the full story, and of course, in all cases like this, there are two sides to every story.

littlelibrarylass · 31 January 2008 at 8:03PM

we are not allowed back to work if we have a sickness certificate signed by a doctor, unless we get a return to work certificate from the doctor. presumably the op is unable to predict whether he is going to have a good day or bad day so is unable to arrange a dr's appointment to get the return certificate.