Dental nurse awarded $31,000 after co-worker allegedly 'rolled her eyes at her'
A dental nurse has won $31,000 in compensation after a colleague showed 'disrespectful' behavior, such as 'rolling her eyes' at her.
Maureen Howieson was awarded $31,000 (£25,254) after a panel found that she had been subjected to ‘rude’ and ‘bullying’ behavior at the Great Junction Dental Practice in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Howieson claims she had a 'strained' relationship with Jisna Iqbal, a dental therapist, which began shortly after Iqbal arrived at the practice in July last year.
64-year-old Howieson, who had 40 years of experience in the industry, was relocated to the reception desk due to her arthritis.
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Meanwhile, Iqbal, a qualified dentist in India, was not yet eligible to practice in the UK and had taken over Howieson's receptionist duties while she was off on sick leave, the Metro reports.
It was during this time that Howieson accused Iqbal of being ‘rude and disrespectful’ when they worked side by side, claiming that she repeatedly refused to do certain tasks and 'rolled her eyes' when speaking, as reported by the Daily Mail.
Daniela Siersch, who was also a dentist at the practice, backed up Howieson's claims, including Iqbal's alleged refusal to do certain tasks, such as refusing to clean a toilet area before inspection because she 'was a dentist'.
In September 2024, Howieson was reportedly brought to tears at work, telling a colleague that she'd been 'reduced to being a cleaner'.
This led to a meeting with the clinic's owner, Dr Fary Johnson Vithayathil, and just one day later, it was alleged that Iqbal had even refused to leave the desk for Howieson to begin her afternoon shift.
Dr Vithayathil said that 'there had been issues with Mrs Iqbal before', but did nothing about it.
Following a panic attack triggered by stress, along with a dispute over an underpaid wage, Howieson ended up resigning from her position.
Iqbal denied the claims, but the panel ultimately found that Howieson was indeed subjected to ‘rude, isolating, bullying and belittling’ behaviour by Iqbal.
Employment Judge Ronald Mackay said the Great Junction Dental Practice's 'unacceptable omission' to address Howieson's concerns created a 'hostile working environment', as he noted that her employer was aware of the problems but 'did nothing to stop it', as assurances given to her 'were not kept'.
He added that the dental practice had committed 'multiple repudiatory breaches' of her contract and unfair constructive dismissal (via The Times).
LADbible Group has reached out to Jisna Iqbal and the Great Junction Dental Practice for comment.
Britt Jones