A woman from Inverness in Scotland has launched legal action against the Scottish police service, Police Scotland, over their decision to reject her already-approved application to join the force.
Laura Mackenzie applied to join the police in June 2019, and sailed through the recruitment process to her “dream job”. In November 2019, she was offered employment with the force, but following a routine medical exam where she disclosed she was taking antidepressants, her employment offer was rescinded by Police Scotland, because of their policy that any candidate had to be free of using antidepressants for at least two years prior to application.
A heartbroken Laura went on to become a nursing assistant at a hospital.
After learning some new information, she is now suing the police force for mental health discrimination under the Equality Act 2010, and despite the normal statute of limitations for such a case expiring after three months, nonetheless a judge has given permission for the case to proceed.
Some legal experts have suggested the ruling in this case could have wide repercussions for those refused employment for mental health issues beyond their control but which did not necessarily interfere with their abilities to do the job they applied for.
A preliminary hearing will take place at a later yet-to-be-scheduled date.
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