Bullying claim at cancer trust dismissed by High Court

Mr Justice Parker also dismissed as “nonsense” allegations by claimant Tracy Boylin that she had been “falsely imprisoned” in a meeting room for eight hours by human resources consultant Christine Pilgrem.

Ms Boylin, who was employed in the trust’s HR department, claimed it exposed her to bullying and harassment between September and November 2010 causing “severe and lasting psychiatric injury”, according to the court judgment.

She claimed to have been bullied, harassed and spoken to aggressively by Ms Pilgrem who had allegedly warned her that her job was at risk.

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The judge said that while Ms Pilgrem had a tone which was “strong, verging on harsh”, this had not constituted bullying or harassment.

He found that she did lose her temper in an unprofessional manner on one occasion when she swore at and threatened Ms Boylin. However “this breach should not be taken out of proportion” because it was a “momentary lapse” and “within minutes they were working normally again”, the judgment said.

When Ms Boylin complained the day after the incident, “the trust acted with exemplary speed and resolve” by investigating and then immediately terminating Ms Pilgrem’s appointment.

A spokeswoman for the FT said the trust was “delighted” with the ruling.

She said: “This has been a longstanding issue for the trust and has inevitably caused anxiety for both our patients and staff, but they can feel reassured that the ruling judge recognised that the actions taken by the trust were entirely appropriate.”