'An inconvenience' | Tribunal awards £190k to director sacked after heart attack left him with brain injury

A “workaholic” senior director has been awarded nearly £190,000 after a tribunal found he was unfairly dismissed, following a heart attack that left him with a brain injury.

Darron Blewitt (the claimant), a regional operations director at Mach Recruitment, suffered a cardiac arrest in February 2020, which caused a hypoxic brain injury affecting his memory, cognition and energy levels. 

Despite returning to work in October 2020 and later being furloughed, the self-described “workaholic” was summarily dismissed in September 2022 without consultation, medical evidence or any formal process.

The Cambridge Employment Tribunal ruled that Mach Recruitment (the respondent) dismissed Blewitt because they considered his disability “time consuming and difficult to manage” and wanted to remove him “in the most expedient way.”