A former hospital worker has been awarded more than $25,000 after the Supreme Court ruled she was wrongfully dismissed by the Bermuda Hospitals Board.

Geneanne Woods-Forde was dismissed for gross misconduct after she lied during an investigation into a complaint by a co-worker, but Puisne Judge Steven Hellman ruled the lie did not amount to gross misconduct according to the BHB’s code of conduct.

“The defendant dismissed the Plaintiff summarily for gross misconduct,” Mr Justice Hellman ruled. “Her dismissal was wrongful as her behaviour did not amount to gross misconduct. She should therefore not have been dismissed without reasonable notice.”

The court had heard that a complaint was lodged against Ms Woods-Forde in March 2011 following an incident involving a co-worker’s six-year-old son, who would often come to the hospital after school.

On March 23, the mother said her son was not where he was supposed to be and, worried for his safety, called his school.

She was told by the school’s receptionist that her son was in the care of Ms Woods-Forde.

Ms Woods-Forde had reportedly called the school about a “situation” involving the child, and had asked to speak with the head of the after school programme.

The next morning, the mother filed a complaint after she was told that Ms Woods-Forde had questioned her son about an incident at school.

Ms Woods-Forde, who was working full-time as a clerk/receptionist for the Diagnostic Imaging Department at the time, said she found the child running around the department and behaving in an unruly matter, but denied calling the school.

On June 2, 2011, Ms Woods-Forde was suspended without pay.

During a subsequent meeting with managers on June 13 she said she had no recollection of making any phone calls to the boy’s school despite being shown phone records.

She was subsequently terminated on June 30 for “serious misconduct involving breach of trust and confidence.

Dishonesty around the case of complaint of calling an employees [sic] child’s school”.

During the Supreme Court trail, Ms Woods-Forde admitted lying about calling the school, saying she had been put under a lot of pressure and intimidation and felt “like a rat in a corner”.

Lawyers for the BHB said while calling the school was serious, it was Ms Woods-Forde’s lie during the subsequent investigation that amounted to gross misconduct.

In his judgement delivered earlier this month, Mr Justice Hellman said dishonesty does not always amount to gross misconduct.

He said the hospital’s code of conduct lists dishonesty as a form of prohibited conduct, but the examples listed concern financial dishonesty — the preparation of documents containing false financial information and the non-disclosure of financial records.

“Admittedly the code states that these examples are not exhaustive,” the judge wrote. “But words take their meaning from the company they keep. The sort of dishonesty of which the plaintiff was guilty was different.

“No doubt that is why the [disciplinary action] form identified the conduct for which the plaintiff was dismissed not as ‘Dishonesty/theft’ but as ‘Other’.

“Did the plaintiff’s dishonest conduct in the course of the investigation amount to gross misconduct?

“I am satisfied, having regard to the code, that it did not. I therefore uphold the plaintiff’s claim for wrongful dismissal.”

He awarded Ms Woods-Forde a total of $25,075 for her wrongful dismissal — $20,538.75 for the loss of earnings during what would have been her notice period and another $4,536.32 for her loss of health insurance during that time.

A BHB spokeswoman said last night that the board was considering its course of action.