A CITIZENS Advice Bureau advisor who was sacked for breaking confidentiality rules after she phoned a suicidal woman's GP to save her life today won her claim for unfair dismissal.
Terri King, 58, was granted damages of just over £18,000 by the Southampton employment tribunal which said she did the right thing to call the doctor.
Mrs King acted after the distraught and sobbing client, who cannot be named, called and said she had taken and overdose of pills because of her problems with debt.
Mrs King immediately alerted her client's GP, who was able to get to the woman and treat her.
But her boss at the Lymington branch of the CAB in Hampshire, Peter Wales said she had made an ''irrational and emotional error'', the hearing was told.
The divorced mother of three from Southampton then lost her £13,000 a year job last September due to breaching confidentiality.
In a judgment tribunal chairman Ian Soulsby said it was ''ridiculous'' to say that Mrs King's actions had been an ''irrational error''.
''Viewed objectively there is no criticism of the claimant to act in this way,'' he said.
Mrs King denied breach of confidentiality and gross misconduct because of her actions, and claimed she had permission from the client to disclose information to her GP.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article