Tribunal orders former Southwark Council worker to pay £20,000 costs
Elisha Neavin, a Southwark Council employee, was dismissed for gross misconduct after the council found she had started an apprenticeship at British Gas while signed off sick from her council role. An employment tribunal rejected her discrimination claims and ordered her to pay the council £20,000 towards its legal costs.
Neavin, 37, had worked in the council’s Children’s Services since 2010 and had cited depression, anxiety, complex PTSD and dyslexia. An occupational health report in September 2023 said she was unfit for work, while she began working for British Gas around 11 December that year; the council later found her in the company’s promotional videos. She was dismissed in March 2025 after an investigation, and the tribunal said the £20,000 represented about half the council’s costs defending the litigation.
- Council worker took a British Gas job while signed off sick.
- Tribunal rejected her discrimination claims.
- She was ordered to pay the council £20,000.
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Southwark Council is the local authority for an area of south London. Its Children’s Services department works with children and families, while British Gas is an energy company that also runs apprenticeship schemes.
An employment tribunal is a court that hears disputes between workers and employers, including claims about unfair treatment at work. In this case, the dispute followed the council’s investigation into an employee who had been signed off sick from her council job and had started an apprenticeship elsewhere.
The case also involved claims of discrimination linked to health conditions, and the tribunal considered whether those claims had been brought properly. Its decision and the costs order concern both the employee’s treatment at work and the expenses employers may seek to recover when defending tribunal claims.
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The case for
The council could reasonably argue that starting an apprenticeship while signed off as unfit for council work raised legitimate questions about the accuracy of her absence and her conduct, especially given her public-facing promotional videos. It had a duty to investigate and protect public funds, and the tribunal’s decision supports its position that defending the claims justified a substantial contribution to its legal costs.
The case against
Neavin could reasonably argue that being unfit for one role does not necessarily mean being unable to undertake different work, particularly where mental health conditions and dyslexia may affect people in varied ways. Even after her claims were rejected, a £20,000 costs order could be seen as a serious additional burden on an individual former employee, especially when the sum represented only part of the council’s legal bill.
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Originally published by Daily Mail as “Council worker ordered to pay £20k after taking up second job at British Gas while on ‘sick leave’ and starring in their promo videos”.