Nursery worker is sacked for refusing to apologise to child, two, who burned hand on a lamp

A child centre manager was sacked after she refused to apologise to a two-year-old who had burnt themselves on a lamp, an employment tribunal heard.

Tracy Maddison said she would 'rather resign' then say sorry to the 'distressed' toddler, whose hand blistered after the incident.

'There is no way I am apologising to a two-year-old for the accident,' she told bosses.

It was heard the manager did not remove the 'offending lamp', or call the child's parents, and displayed a 'dismissive' attitude towards the accident, citing it was 'nothing serious'.

The senior employee, who had worked at the childcare centre for 15 years, was sacked and later tried to sue for unfair dismissal.

But her claim was not upheld by an employment judge who said she was guilty of 'plenty' of misconduct and 'failed to adequately manage the accident'.

The tribunal, held in Leeds, heard Ms Maddison started working for Thorpe Willoughby Childcare Centre in Selby, North Yorkshire, in 2008.

She told the panel that she initially started working for the centre as a volunteer and was later in charge of the 'day to day running' of the organisation.

In June of last year, a two year old child burned their hand on a light bulb in a lamp, which was on the floor of the nursery.

It was heard the burn progressed from 'redness to blistering' and the toddler's mother took them into hospital for treatment.

Ms Maddison said while the child was 'very distressed and upset' after the injury, by the time she got to them the 'screaming had stopped' and 'the child was calm'.

She said after seeing the red mark on the toddler's hand, she asked a colleague to advise the parents to take the youngster to A&E to 'get checked out'.

The manager did not wait for the mother of the injured child when she came to pick them up, it was heard.

Another employee told the tribunal that there was a 'small bruise' in the middle of the youngster's hand and another said the 'child was too upset to say what was wrong'.

Ms Maddison did not report the accident to the centre's chairman, Laura Howey, who was tasked with ensuring that health and safety was maintained at the nursery.

When the chairman arrived at the centre, she asked Ms Maddison about the accident and the manager told her it was 'nothing serious'.

It was heard Ms Maddison apologised to the mother but didn't ask how the child was.

The centre's deputy manager met with Ms Howey and the mother, and heard how the parent was 'unhappy' with how Ms Maddison had dealt with the incident.

She asked for a verbal apology, to which Ms Maddison later said 'There is no way I am apologising to a two year old for the accident',

She said she would 'rather resign than apologise to the child', the tribunal heard.

The deputy manager said Ms Maddison's attitude was 'dismissive' and she thought the injury was 'minor'.

The tribunal noted that the centre's policy stated that it was 'mandatory' for staff to call parents in the case of any accidents, which the manager did not do.

They said the manager 'did not remove the offending lamp' and asked that the light is not taken away from the building.

She said she had 'no idea' why the lamp was on the floor, and she did not ask why.

The centre held an 'emergency meeting' into the matter and instructed it's HR consultants to carry out an investigation to the accident.

Several complaints about Ms Maddison's conduct arose in investigation meetings, it was heard.

One employee complained about the 'unprofessional and concerning attitude' of Ms Maddison and said during a meeting she became 'agitated and annoyed' before 'storming out'.

Among other complaints, it was heard the manager would often shout at staff in an 'aggressive manner' and would also claim back hours 'without approval', whilst working from home.

She was dismissed in September 2023.

Dismissing her unfair dismissal claim, Employment Judge Jeremy Shulman said a 'catalogue of behaviour from the most senior employee in the centre' arose after the accident, which she had 'failed to adequately manage'.

'Clearly, and not belittling the rest of the conduct, the accident evidence was the most serious, not necessarily because of the accident itself, but because of the claimant's uncaring attitude to the child, the mother, concerned staff and concerned committee members,' EJ Shulman said.

'We find that the [centre] believed that [Ms Maddison] was guilty of misconduct and there was plenty of it.'

They said her sacking 'fell within that band of reasonable responses' and dismissed her claims of unfair dismissal.