Dismissed for mental health or for simply being different? In this article, we’ll cover some of the most interesting recent cases of mental health issues in the workplace. This includes a Bing Lee employee whose own lawyers requested her sanity be checked after she continued to pursue a frivolous discrimination claim. Also, an Italian bus driver who was fired for singing in a piano bar while on leave for anxiety.
You’ll also read about a teacher who was dismissed for worshipping Satan and claiming he had bipolar disorder, and a chef who walked away with a $27,000 mental health discrimination payout despite yelling “c**t” in front of diners.
This story was detailed in the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia case Meshram v Bing Lee Electrics Pty Ltd (No 2) [2023]. Ms. Meshram was employed as a sales consultant at two Sydney Bing Lee stores for just over a year until she resigned in February 2019. She sent an email to management detailing her reasons for leaving. She claimed that she had been “abused, bullied, discriminated, threatened [and] underpaid my entitlements.” She also claimed that when she asked about her workplace rights, she had been threatened with dismissal and humiliated repeatedly.
Ms. Meshram also claimed to have been the victim of “dirty political games” and racism. She said that she was left traumatised and in “fear for my life.” In 2020, she initiated legal action against Bing Lee, claiming that she had experienced sex and racial discrimination during her employment.
Ms. Meshram’s claim was heard by the Federal Circuit and Family Court in 2023. It noted that she didn’t respond to invitations from Bing Lee’s HR manager to discuss the concerns raised in her email. It found that none of the allegations she levelled at her former colleagues were backed by evidence.
Ms. Meshram, who was Indian, claimed that a store manager had asked her about the practice of some Indian people wearing turbans. She claimed that this was racial discrimination. But the court noted that the manager had asked the question after having just served a customer wearing a turban and that it didn’t constitute racial discrimination.
The court also dismissed Ms. Meshram’s claim that the manager asking her about the Indian custom of financing weddings was racial discrimination, describing it as mere “small talk” between colleagues.
Ms. Meshram alleged that a manager had put his arms around her and made inappropriate remarks about a female customer. She also claimed that a different male colleague had shown her explicit sexual images on his mobile phone. Ms. Meshram also said that a colleague had referenced the appearance of her chest.
These allegations were dismissed by the Federal Circuit and Family Court. It also questioned the validity of ‘contemporaneous notes’ submitted by Ms. Meshram to support one of her allegations. The court said that the notes were “likely written well after the alleged event” in order to corroborate her allegation.
The Federal Circuit and Family Court ultimately threw out Ms. Meshram’s case. It said that she had “embellished” events which in reality were just “small talk and petty workplace disagreements” which she had cast in a more “nefarious light.”
The court also highlighted that Ms. Meshram was “not especially popular or well-liked” by her workmates. It concluded that she was so “incredulous” that her dislike may be because of her personality that she concocted a story to explain the dislike as a result of her being Indian and a woman. The court said that her case demonstrated “the perils of litigating hurt feelings.”
Undeterred by this overwhelmingly negative view of her case, Ms. Meshram decided to appeal the decision the following month. But in July 2025, her pro bono legal team secured court permission to have a psychiatrist assess Ms. Meshram’s legal fitness to continue with the proceedings.
The Federal Circuit and Family Court addressed concerns raised by the legal team about Ms. Meshram’s “mental capacity.” The team said they had been denied permission to speak with her doctor and psychologist. They said that weren’t satisfied that Ms. Meshram was of the “requisite capacity” to go ahead with the appeal and take instructions from them.
In response to these claims, Ms. Meshram sought the appointment of new pro bono legal representatives “who would act as instructed.” However, the Federal Circuit and Family Court said that her legal team was right to question her mental health capacity. This was because Ms. Meshram had not provided them with the chance to allay their concerns.
The court said that given the previous proceedings, it was in the “interests of justice” that Ms. Meshram’s mental health and mental capacity be determined prior to any further proceedings. It was noted that the assessment could cost around $4,000, but the court said there was “no other option” given the concerns and lack of alternatives.
The court said that it couldn’t compel Ms. Meshram to attend a psychiatric assessment. However, if she didn’t, her appeal could not take place.
This story caught the attention of news outlets in late 2024. It involved an Italian bus driver who worked for Rome-based Laziali Transport Company. The driver had been on leave for anxiety disorders, which were substantiated by a medical certificate. But in April 2019, he was spotted by his employer in a Rome piano bar engaging in “activities completely incompatible with his status,” its investigation noted. Specifically, the driver had been caught serenading patrons whilst playing the piano.
Laziali Transport Company was reportedly suspicious of his sick leave claim so it hired private detectives to monitor his activities. The driver was dismissed in February 2020. In addition to his extra curricular activities, the company said that he had not complied with requests to have a medical examination. It also highlighted that in March 2019 the driver had “devoted himself primarily to personal activities” whilst on mental health leave.
He initiateda legal process that saw a Rome court rule in his favour. Laziali Transport Company was ordered to reinstate him and pay him €2,127 (around $AU3,800) in damages. This ruling was later upheld on appeal in October 2022. But the company appealed the decision once more and the case was escalated to Italy’s Supreme Court.
In November 2024 the court reaffirmed the earlier judgments, declaring the dismissal unlawful. It said that Laziali Transport Company failed to show the “incompatibility” of the driver’s side job as a piano singer with his “psychophysical recovery.” The court said the company did not provide any evidence to back up its claim that singing at a bar could be detrimental to the driver’s anxiety disorder.
In addition to this, the court highlighted that the driver had been singing at the bar at night, which was outside his normal work hours as a driver. This means that it was also outside of his mandatory at-home hours designated for medical inspections. The Supreme Court’s decision affirmed those of the lower courts, which said that singing might have helped the driver’s recovery.
This story, which made the news in August 2023, comes to us from the US. It involved a primary school art teacher Kris Martin whose mental health issues and questionable beliefs were outed by conservative X account Libs of TikTok.
The account had shared to its over 4 million followers screenshots of social media posts from Mr. Martin in which he admitted that he had mental health issues, including bipolar disorder, mania and psychosis. He admitted to being “violent” ad “hurtful” while in a manic and psychotic state. The Libs of TikTok post also included images Mr. Martin had posted on social media that indicated he worshipped Satan.
Other posts were reported to include phrases such as “Kill the Poor” and “Love the Devil Back,” along with a picture of an upside-down black American flag reading, “F**k the police.”
After a huge public reaction, Mr. Martin was summarily dismissed from the Chicago school he had only recently started working at. The decision followed a special board meeting that saw significant attendance from concerned parents and community members
Parents expressed serious concerns about the safety and well-being of their children. One parent said that their safety had been “neglected and overlooked” by the school board for hiring a teacher with “unpredictable” behavior. Another parent questioned the board saying that if Mr. Martin was posting content like this publicly, “what will he do behind closed doors with our children?.”
This story from the UK garnered attention online in June 2025. It involved junior chef Abbie Garner who was dismissed after a loud, profane argument with a colleague at her work, the Thorpe Hall Hotel and Spa in Peterborough, in August 2023. Ms. Garner successfully challenged her dismissal after an employment tribunal ruled her conduct was linked to her mental health disabilities.
The argument occurred near the spa reception and was sparked by a personal dispute with a fellow chef with whom she had been in a relationship. The tribunal heard Ms. Garner was overheard shouting: “you f**king made me love you then you cheated on me, you c***.”
Following the incident and subsequent complaints from guests, Ms. Garner was called to a disciplinary meeting. During the hearing, she reportedly gave “abrupt” responses and asked management if her ex-partner would also be disciplined. Notes from the disciplinary hearing recorded her saying: “I have apologised – what else do you want?”
The tribunal determined that Ms. Garner was disabled under the UK’s Equality Act. It concluded that her inability to control her anger was due to her mental health disabilities. This included anxiety, depression, and polycystic ovary syndrome. The tribunal directly linked her conduct to these health issues. It said that Ms. Garner wasn’t able to regulate her mood or control her anger due to her disabilities.
The tribunal concluded that the hotel failed in its duty to make reasonable adjustments by not seeking medical evidence before deciding on her dismissal. It ruled that had the hotel obtained medical information, it may not have decided to fire her. The tribunal accepted that Ms. Garner would pose a risk to the hotel if she were to keep her job. However, it ruled that this risk didn’t excuse the hotel’s failure to properly consider the link between her behaviour and her mental health conditions.
The tribunal ordered the hotel to pay Ms. Garner £13,455.91 (around $AU 27,000) for disability discrimination.
Read more: Fair Work rules unfair dismissal of employee with mental health issues
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