Woman unfairly sacked after her wife tried to kill boss

An ambulance worker whose wife tried to kill their manager with a hammer was unfairly sacked, a tribunal has concluded.

Paula Smith's wife, Stacey Smith, who worked with her in patient transport based at Oldham ambulance station, Greater Manchester, was jailed in October 2024 for trying to kill their boss Michala Morton the previous November in a row over rotas, the tribunal was told.

Police also arrested Paula Smith on suspicion of harassing and threatening to kill the manager but decided to take no further action against her in April 2024. She was then sacked by North West Ambulance Service Trust three weeks later.

Stacey Smith was found guilty of attempted murder and jailed for 20 years.

Paula Smith was dismissed and told her "known arrest and association with someone who has been charged with attempted murder of your operations manager" undermined the trust in the service and those who operated it, according to the tribunal judgement.

But an employment judge said her arrest and bail conditions did not receive any publicity, and said even if a member of the public had discovered the link between her and her wife, "they would be highly unlikely to consider they were at any risk from the claimant".

The couple wanted to work together and have their rotas arranged so they could have their time off work together, according to the judgement, and considered their supervisor was being "obstructive" towards them.

It resulted in them jointly raising a grievance against her in December 2021, the tribunal heard.

In July 2022, a patient the couple knew died but they were unable to attend the funeral because of their work rotas.

They were upset about this and Paula Smith "took to social media to express her dissatisfaction with this situation, blaming, without naming, Michala Morton, for this situation", the judgement said.

Paula Smith was later given a first written warning, for breaching the trust's social networking policy and failure to maintain the trust's required standards of behaviour.

In November 2023, Stacey Smith "attacked Michala Morton with a hammer outside her home", the tribunal heard.

Paula Smith played no part in the attack and had no knowledge of what her wife intended to do, according to the judgement.

The following day, Paula Smith was arrested on suspicion of harassment and threats to kill, and released on bail.

The next day, she was suspended on full pay and reference was made to this being because of her arrest.

On 3 April 2024, Paula Smith received an email from Greater Manchester Police confirming it would take no further action and that her bail conditions had been lifted.

After a hearing on 19 April that year, Paula Smith was informed in a letter dated 25 April 2024 of her dismissal.

In a reserved judgement, an employment judge wrote: "Patients, and the general public, an even more remote group, would, the tribunal considers, be highly unlikely even to make the connection, and, even if they did, they would be highly unlikely to consider that they were at any risk from the claimant."

He said the trust also "focused very heavily upon the claimant's arrest and bail conditions, but neither of these received any publicity".

The remedy to which Paula Smith is entitled will be considered further, if required, at another hearing.

The pair had since ended their relationship, the tribunal was told.

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