The Court of Appeal has ruled that a nurse who was fired for
making an off-colour joke as she helped to restrain a patient who
was having an epileptic fit was unfairly dismissed.
The 31-year-old patient, who was described as "extremely
strong", had had his trousers removed so that doctors could
inject his buttock. The nurse sat on his ankles to restrain his
flailing legs. During the course of the fit, however, the patient
turned onto his back, exposing himself and pushing the nurse
forward so she ended up straddling him.
The nurse then remarked, "It's been a few months since
I have been in this position with a man underneath me".
The appeal judges found that the senior staff nurse's remark
would have been considered "merely humorous" by the
majority of people, and was not sufficient to warrant her losing
her job. The patient himself was unconscious when the remark was
made, so there was no suggestion that he could have heard the
nurse's comment.
