Great-grandmother is awarded £25,000 for unfair dismissal after rowing with bosses who told her to give a 'naughty child' a 'good slap' to put him in his place

A great grandmother has been awarded nearly £25,000 for an unfair dismissal after bosses fed up with her taking time off work to care for a 'naughty' child told her to give him a 'good slap'.

Stephanie Lee-Shields resigned from Exquisite Displays in Leicester after working there for almost 20 years, following an argument where it was suggested she get physical with a child to stop her having to miss work.

The employment tribunal heard that she became the carer of a four year old child, referred to only as X, in May 2021 which placed 'great strain' on her and meant she was under 'a lot of stress, pressure and anxiety' as she was 'juggling a lot of things' including the day to day care for the child.

Employment Judge Robert Clark agreed there had been 'aggressive criticism' of Mrs Lee-Shields, and 'frustration' at her caring commitments before awarding her £24,725 in compensation. 

Due to various circumstances Mrs Lee-Shield had had to recently 'return to the role of parent to small children'.

The tribunal was told bosses knew of Mrs Lee-Shields' situation with X from 'very early on' with adjustments being made to 'support her'.

In July 2021 she asked for a meeting with the directors - Kevin Bennet and Maxine Carvey - about juggling work and caring for X.

The Leicester hearing was told whilst 'sympathetic' to her circumstances, Mr Bennet was 'frustrated' by the added uncertainty he would have to manage in planning his output.

As a result, her working hours were adjusted so she could do the school run at the start and end of each day.

Mrs Lee-Shields and bosses remained on 'good and close' relations through the end of 2021 until X started displaying 'extreme emotional outbursts' at school and being 'violent towards staff and other pupils' in January 2022.

In February 2022, she arranged another meeting with the directors, as the 'frequency and intensity' of her care responsibilities increased substantially in the first part of 2022.

In March 2022, 'matters came to a head' when Mrs Lee-Shields got a call from the school asking to collect X and there was a 'heated' row, causing her to resign several days later.

Employment Judge Robert Clark said: 'I have concluded that it is more likely than less likely that Ms Carvey did make comments to [Mrs Lee-Shields] along the lines of 'she should give X a good slap' or that 'X was just a naughty child' or that 'X just needs a good slap'.

'In what would become the last few weeks of employment there were further comments along the lines of X being naughty and just needing a slap.

'I find in one conversation between [Mrs Lee-Shields] and Maxine Carvey she shared how she had had a difficult day the previous day and the reply was 'to slap him'.

'Mr Bennet referred to 'give him a good slap' which would sort him out and that 'it never did any harm to my kids'.

'I accept that although made in the context of this over familiar relationship, and not intended as literal directions or even references to true experiences, [Mrs Lee-Shields] was increasingly concerned about references to physical violence in context of X's life experiences.

'She either ignored the comment or replied in a matter-of-fact way that she would not slap a child.

'[Mrs Lee-Shields] did not call out the comment beyond that, but I accept that it would have been clear the comments were received as inappropriate comments.'

He said there had been a 'heated exchange' in which comments had been made 'targeting X personally by use of words to the effect of needing a good slap'.

'That further supports her perception that her employer was frustrated with the arrangements it had put in place for her and she was additionally anxious about what that pressure meant for her employment.'

The judge said there had been 'aggressive criticism' of Mrs Lee-Shields and her family, and 'frustration' at her caring commitments. She was awarded £24,725 in compensation.