A London council must pay £4.6m to a former employee subjected to harassment and disability discrimination while on medical leave. The award, believed to be the highest ever against a public body, is a reminder for employers to beware of career-long loss claims and to avoid misleading the employment tribunal.

Rachael Wright-Turner, former director of public sector reform at the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, was dismissed from her £125,000-a-year position in 2018 while on sick leave with secondary post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).