A British former executive at consulting giant Accenture has claimed he was “belittled and shamed” by colleagues because of mental health issues including depression.
Peter Lacy, who was formerly chief responsibility officer at the multinational, has filed an employment tribunal claim against the company as well as its US-based chief executive Julie Sweet, claiming he was “frozen out of meetings” and mistreated before losing his job in an “ambushing”.
Mr Lacy suffered from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), post-traumatic stress and depression. He has accused Accenture, which had revenues of $64bn (£51bn) last year, of unfairly targeting him because of his conditions.
Accenture has denied all of the allegations and is contesting the case at trial.
Mr Lacy was one of the accounting giant’s top fee-earners before he was dismissed last year. His lawyers claim that he considered his ADHD a “superpower” that was “integral to his success and that of Accenture as his employer who reaped the benefits”.
However, in the 18 months before his dismissal, his symptoms were exacerbated and he needed extra help. Rather than be granted such support, Mr Lacy alleges that he faced “adverse treatment” and was belittled “sometimes publicly” by staff, including Ms Sweet.
Mr Lacy is claiming unfair dismissal and disability discrimination, according to legal documents made public on Thursday.
The documents claim: “Rather than provide [Mr Lacy] with the support he required during this time and live up to [Accenture’s] rhetoric around health, wellbeing and catering for the needs of their neurodiverse workforce, [Mr Lacy] was frozen out of meetings, belittled (sometimes publicly) by senior staff such as Ms Sweet and Ms [Ellyn] Shook [Accenture’s HR chief], and shamed.”
This allegedly culminated in an “ambushing” where Mr Lacy was dismissed.
“This decision was a fait accompli with no form of redundancy exercise at all.”
The NHS in Scotland is spending more than a million pounds a year to employ two locum consultants, an employment tribunal has heard.
The bill of almost £1.2 million is for a pair of senior psychiatrists to cover the Western Isles and is an increase of £100,000 on the previous year, according to figures presented to the hearing.
The Isle of Lewis-based health board told the tribunal it struggles to fill the positions with permanent doctors and that overspending on temporary staff – who are looking to “maximise” their earnings – has an impact on other patients’ care.
An individual locum can cost the health service £600,000 a year compared with £200,000 for a doctor who takes on a permanent role, the hearing was told.
The financial disclosures were made during a case involving consultant psychiatrist Denitza Mihaylova, who was sacked after she fell ill and was unable to fulfil her on-call commitments at night.
Over almost two years, the NHS paid locums to cover her while she was off sick, but sacked her after concluding that funding this arrangement was “no longer viable”.
Health board sued
Ms Mihaylova sued the health board for disability discrimination and unfair dismissal, but her case was rejected after the tribunal found the health board had to manage its budget responsibly.
The hearing in Stornoway was told that Ms Mihaylova started work for the Western Isles NHS in September 2020 as one of two specialists providing 24/7 psychiatric services.
This involved an on-call rota and regular visits to Uist and Barra as well as home visits to patients in crisis on Harris and Lewis.
“The second full-time permanent consultant psychiatrist had retired in 2018,” the tribunal was told. “[The health board] had been unable to recruit a full-time replacement.
“Between 2021 and 2023 the vacant post for a consultant psychiatrist was advertised eight times with no applicants. Accordingly, that post was filled from 2018 with locums.
“Consultant psychiatrists are in short supply in Scotland, there being a 60 per cent vacancy rate at this time. General psychiatry is the specialism with the most vacancies across Scotland.
“It is therefore difficult to recruit consultant psychiatrists particularly for remote, island-based locations. This means that the board must rely on locums.”
Difficulties finding doctors
The tribunal heard that although there are agreements with some agencies to supply locums at a capped cost, because of the difficulties in finding doctors, health boards have to go “off framework” and recruit using other agencies at higher costs.
The tribunal was told that in September 2021 Ms Mihaylova was diagnosed with the spinal condition myelopathy, leading her to be off sick for 150 days over the next 22 months.
To cover her absence, the health board had to pay for an additional locum consultant, the hearing was told.
In March 2022, Ms Mihaylova began a phased return to work following surgery and by August she had returned to full-time duties.
However, she raised concerns about responding to night time calls as the pain medication she had to take – which the tribunal heard she may have to be on permanently – made her “sedated”.
An occupational health adviser recommended she not do overnight on calls, the hearing was told.
No longer viable
In September Ms Mihaylova was told by bosses that funding long-term locum cover for her on-call duties – at a cost of £325,000 – was no longer viable.
She was also told the health board anticipated running a £1.6m budget deficit – with locum costs a “considerable part of that” – despite Scottish Government rules forbidding this.
In addition, bosses said that “the adjustment to cover on-call could not continue for financial reasons without a known time frame when she could safely resume on-call”.
In January 2023 the figure for the cost of the second locum consultant to cover her absence had increased to £366,000 a year, the hearing was told.
In March, Ms Mihaylova – who by that time was on sick leave – was sacked because of her absences from work and the health board being unable to say with certainty that she could ever return to work full time.
As part of the evidence presented to the tribunal, the health board produced figures which showed that the total budget for mental health services for 2022-23 was £2,843,881 and from that for psychiatry the budget was £520,986.
Budget increases
However, locum costs for 2022-23 were actually £1,073,308 for two doctors, including the second locum to cover for Ms Mihaylova.
The tribunal was told that the budget for mental health services for 2023-24 had increased to £4,314,314, with a psychiatry budget of £611,775.
The projected cost of employing two locum consultant psychiatrists employed since her dismissal was put at £1,179,076.
“Overspend in mental health services has consequences for service provision and the financial impact on other aspects of the service, because it requires efficiency savings elsewhere in the organisation,” the tribunal was told.
“The requirement to secure locums, and changing locums, creates significant disruption with direct impact on both inpatient and community care, specifically in terms of continuity of care, functioning of local multidisciplinary team arrangements and decision making in relation to complex patient presentation.”
Despite sympathising with Ms Mihaylova, the tribunal rejected her claims.
‘Extremely unfortunate’
“The circumstances of this case are extremely unfortunate,” said Muriel Robison, an employment judge who chaired the tribunal.
“The [health board] has difficulty recruiting consultant psychiatrists and having recruited [Ms Mihaylova], who clearly enjoyed her job and living on the island, she became ill such that she could not perform all of her duties.
“It must be a matter of great regret to both parties that the arrangement could not continue. For those reasons, this was a difficult case, but ultimately we accepted that the adjustments made could not continue without an end in sight given the respondent’s budgetary responsibilities.”
Ride On St. Louis has found a permanent home after flooding forced the equine-assisted service program from its home at the Anheuser Estate in Kimmswick five years ago.
The nonprofit organization, which offers equine therapy to children and adults with disabilities, will move its operation to a 27-acre property at 9000 Grab Lane off Sandy Valley Acres Drive northeast of Hillsboro it purchased for about $745,000, said Stephanie Stark, Ride On’s campaign committee adviser.
On March 15, the organization, which was formed in 1998, held a ribbon-cutting and blessing ceremony at its “forever home” with about 35 supporters in attendance.
However, it will be months before staff members and the horses can move there, Stark said.
Marita Wassman, Ride On’s CEO and co-founder, said more fundraising and renovations are needed before the organization may transition to its new home.
She hopes that will happen later this year but until then, services will remain at the group’s leased interim site at 8499 Byrnesville Road in Cedar Hill.
According to the group’s website, approximately $800,000 of the $1.3 million needed for the relocation project has been secured so far.
In addition to acquiring and renovating the property for the organization’s new home, the $1.3 million would provide funds to add staff and expand services, as well as for an endowment.
Stark said the renovations are needed to make it safe for children and adults with disabilities to ride horses at the new property.
She said the property will be ADA (Americans with Disabilities) compliant and PATH (Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship) compliant.
The fields need to be sectioned off and enclosed with about 5,915 feet of fencing. An old barn will be demolished and another will be renovated for six stalls and work areas. Plans also call for a classroom, restroom facilities and parking, Wassman said.
“Additionally, immediate plans include replacing many of the existing wood beams and foundation posts in the barn,” according to the group’s website. “To date, a small structure has already been demolished and removed from the property, and the future barn/stable existing structure has been gutted and prepared for utility updates and grading.”
After the group lost the property in Kimmswick in 2019, the COVID-19 pandemic struck, so most of the therapy staff was furloughed, Stark said.
“So what’s included in that $1.3 million is restaffing the entire organization to be able to provide services, not only for existing participants but also for the (116 people) who are currently on the waiting list for services,” she said.
“We anticipate transitioning our herd in (the third or fourth quarter) of 2024, with program offerings continuing in a limited capacity based upon our herd’s acclimation,” Wassman said. “We will have additional buildout phases and capital improvement projects beyond 2024.”
Wassman said the organization has volunteer opportunities for skilled laborers, and anyone interested in helping with the cause may visit rideonstl.org or call 636-464-3408.
The next fundraiser will be Denim & Diamonds, a private dinner on April 25 at the Fox Run Golf Course Carriage House in the Jefferson County portion of Eureka. For information, email info@rideonstl.org or call 636-464-3408.
Flooding and COVID
Ride On previously was located on the Anheuser Estate along the Mississippi River in Kimmswick, and the property was first affected by flooding in 2013 and then again in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018, said BriAnn Session, Wassman’s daughter, who serves as the group’s grant manager.
“It cost Ride on St. Louis approximately $200,000 after every flood to rebuild all their infrastructure,” Stark said.
Session said after each flood, the organization had to close for about eight months while it rebuilt and sanitized affected areas.
When it first moved from Kimmswick in 2019, a friend with a breeding farm in Illinois allowed Wassman to run the organization’s Barn Buddies program from his property for that year.
In 2020, Ride On St. Louis leased the stable in Cedar Hill.
“Before moving there, we had a lot of work to do,” Session said. “We had to clean the pastures out; they were very overgrown. It was vacant for years. We had to build out stalls and temporary fencing that we can bring with us.”
When COVID shut everything down in March 2020, Session said the group was one of the first to offer a virtual equine services program.
Then, after COVID, the organization provided what services it could in Cedar Hill, but the temporary property was not appropriate for anyone in a wheelchair, which makes up a large percentage of the population the organization serves, Stark said.
Session said the organization put a lot of planning into exactly how the new property needs to flow.
At its peak and before the group moved out of Kimmswick, it was serving 50 clients a week from counties in Missouri and Illinois. Since 1998, it has provided equine-assisted services to more than 2,600 people, and it helped about 270 people last year.
According to its website, Ride On St. Louis relies on private donations, fundraising, volunteer efforts, in-kind gifts and grants.