Nurse sues GP brother over failure to tell her she was sacked

A Scottish nurse is suing her GP brother, claiming he failed to tell her she had been sacked for months in an attempt to soften the blow. An employment tribunal heard that Dr Mohammed Moughal used ambiguous language when informing his pregnant sister she would be dismissed the following month.

Ms Anika Moughal had worked for Greenlaw Medical Practice in Glasgow for more than three years, until she began to struggle with a complicated pregnancy. She was moved to a remote role managing patients with chronic diseases, but was ultimately dismissed. The tribunal said the first respondent wished to soften the blow and used ambiguous language. When he broke the news, he avoided words such as "dismissed" or "fired" and did not confirm her dismissal in writing. Instead, he suggested she should "stop logging in", leaving her under the impression that the situation was not, or not yet, permanent.

The uncertainty continued as Dr Moughal asked his sister to "bear with me" while addressing an ongoing dispute between partners at the Greenlaw practice, which has since dissolved. The GP's instructions were so unclear that Ms Moughal did not realise she was unemployed until she was sent a P45 in August—three months after she had been removed from the payroll. She is suing the practice for unlawful deductions of wages, failure to inform her about changes to her contract and unfair dismissal. Judge Mark Whitcombe said: "There was nothing which clearly and unambiguously communicated to the claimant that the terms of her contract were changing on a permanent basis." He added: "I do not think that a reasonable employee in the claimant’s position would have understood the first respondent’s words to amount to the communication of a dismissal in all the circumstances." The preliminary hearing in Glasgow was told that Ms Moughal had worked for Greenlaw Medical Practice as a practice nurse from September 2020, having previously worked as a receptionist in 2013 and as a health care support worker between 2014 and 2018 while she studied to be a nurse. She had a break in summer 2020 to get married before returning to the practice, largely working remotely, and occasionally attending vaccination clinics or smear clinics.

The partners agreed in writing that the claimant should be "off payroll from May 1, 2024", but what was communicated to the claimant was not in those terms. The Greenlaw practice has since been dissolved. The tribunal case will be considered further at a later date.