A care home worker who was sacked after a post appeared on her Facebook page calling Muslims “fanatical bigots” has won her case for unfair dismissal – but been awarded no compensation.
The post on Linda Henderson’s social media feed also said there were “no decent honest Muslims” and that they should “go back to [their] own country”.
Bosses at Ashgill Care Home in Glasgow also discovered a further post which railed against immigration, claiming the Scottish Government should focus on jobs for “our own kind”.
Ms Henderson admitted to writing the post about immigration but denied posting the statement about Muslims. However, she was dismissed as managers did not believe her.
She won her case at an employment tribunal as the care home refused to consider a letter from her son claiming that he had posted the comment on her timeline.
Employment judge Robert King said that Ms Henderson’s “culpable and blameworthy conduct in breaching the respondent’s social media policy was the sole cause of her dismissal”.
He added it was “just and equitable to reduce her award by 100%”.
The tribunal heard that Ms Henderson began working at the care home in November 2015 as an activities co-ordinator.
In January 2019, her manager, Rosemary Jalloh, received an anonymous text which contained screenshots from her Facebook page dating back to September 2014.
One post stated: “Alex Salmond wants MORE IMMIGRANTS? We can’t feed and support our own kind as it is we don’t NEED more immigrants we need jobs with decent wages for our OWN kind.”
The other read: “Why are the ‘SO CALLED DECENT MUSLIMS’ allowing their own kind to cause and create terrorism? The answer is there are no DECENT HONEST MUSLIMS.
“They are all fanatical bigots and it’s time we stood up to them and tell them THIS IS OUR COUNTRY. IF YOU DON’T LIKE OUR LAWS THEN LEAVE. GO BACK TO YOUR OWN COUNTRY.’’
Ms Jalloh saw that Ms Henderson had named the care home as her employer on the site. She found that the posts breached the home’s social media policy and Ms Henderson was dismissed.
The worker appealed the decision and offered a letter from her son claiming that he had written the post, however bosses refused to consider it as it had been presented too late.
Judge King found that this was an error and the letter should have been considered. He added that an investigation into Ms Henderson’s activities with ethnic minority residents should also have been disclosed to her.
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