Havant Network Rail inspector with 'shy bladder syndrome' wins job back after drug test dismissal

Network Rail employee Lewis Smith, based in Havant, was dismissed in October 2019 after he failed to provide a sample as part of a drugs and alcohol test on five members of staff.

But the railwayman – who had served the organisation for more than nine years – has shown a tribunal that his failure to submit a sample was down to him suffering ‘shy bladder syndrome’, which makes it impossible for him to urinate on request or when around people.

Shy bladder syndrome – also known as paruresis – is a medical condition recognised by the NHS and a variety of institutions that operate random or requested urine testing.

Mr Smith ‘successful career’ until he and his colleagues were called-in for the test ‘on a hunch’, the tribunal reports.

The report continues: ‘His GP's diagnosis confirmed that he was suffering from paruresis (shy bladder syndrome) and that this had prevented him from providing a sample to the Testing Officer.

‘There is no basis for (the head of human resources in the Network Rail Wessex route) to assert that his failure to disclose the undiagnosed medical condition was a breach of trust by him.’

Network Rail claimed there was a ‘breakdown of trust’ between the company and Mr Smith as it argued that he should not get his job back.

The company claimed it would ‘lead other employees to conclude that Mr Smith had found a loophole in Network Rail’s Alcohol and Drug Policy’.

But the tribunal has ruled that Network Rail must pay the former employee – who spent months looking for work after he was fired – suffered an unfair dismissal with ‘no evidence of culpable and blameworthy conduct’.

Network rail must now pay him more than £90,000 in compensation and reinstate him to his previous role as a team leader.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

Subscribe here for unlimited access to all our coverage, including Pompey, for just 26p a day.