Woman with cancer 'sacked from Met Police because of her illness'

Susan Garnett, a solicitor, was working for Scotland Yard on a secret project when she was diagnosed in March last year.

She says she was denied a fixed-term contract, despite still being able to do the job, after she informed her employers a few days later.

Ms Garnett claims she was told by a senior officer "it was the policy of the Met not to issue fixed-term contracts to people with such serious health problems".

The news left her "aghast and deeply distressed", she said.

Ms Garnett worked for the Home Office until October 2005 and began work the following month with the Met on a "sensitive research project" for the police and security agencies that had up to £2 million of Home Office funding.

She said Scotland Yard originally offered her a fixed-term contract expected to last for the term of the project.

But when she revealed details of her illness this was denied - although she continued to work despite treatment which included chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

Despite "repeated" requests for a fixed-term contract, only a temporary arrangement was made. The project was later put on hold, since when she has not worked.

Ms Garnett is suing the Met on the ground of "disability discrimination and unfair dismissal".

Her solicitor, Jo McCarthy, said: "The situation that she has found herself in is exactly the type of situation that the Disability Discrimination Act was passed to prevent.

"The Met appears to have acted on instinctive prejudice against cancer suffers and did not take the trouble to find out how Susan's condition affected her ability to do the job.

"In this case her cancer did not prevent her from doing any part of her job at all."

Ms McCarthy added: "Public sector employers are expected to set the trend where combating discrimination is concerned - not buck the trend and act unlawfully."

She said that when Ms Garnett started work with the Met it was her understanding that the terms of the contract "would be akin to those of other civil servants employed by the Met Police".

In a statement, she said: "It was clear that the failure to proceed with the issue of a fixed-term contract was solely on the grounds of her disclosure that she was suffering from breast cancer."

A Metropolitan Police spokeswoman said it was aware of the complaint but had not responded yet. She said it would be inappropriate to comment further at this stage.

A date and place for an employment tribunal has not yet been set. It is expected to be heard later this year.