A Sellafield worker was sacked after she dropped memory sticks containing classified information in a car park at the nuclear complex.
Louise Telford, who as a senior control systems engineer for Sellafield Limited, said she used the unencrypted USB sticks – which included an operating system and data about Thorp – at home and at work.
Health issues meant she started work later and finished work later than colleagues as her medication caused drowsiness and encrypted USB sticks with the sensitive information on would be locked away for security reasons. She told the Manchester tribunal she had ‘improvised’.
She worked for Sellafield Limited for over 20 years and took the company to an employment tribunal claiming unfair dismissal and disability discrimination.
In 2018, she was invited to a meeting and told that a black mesh bag had been found in the car park. Within it were the USB sticks.
She confirmed it was her bag, but said her disability meant she was forgetful and the medication could have impaired her judgement.
She was suspended while an investigation was carried out by the company. Around 261 hours were spent by investigators and recommendations were made, including a disciplinary hearing for Miss Telford.
This happened in July 2018 and found that Miss Telford was guilty of gross misconduct and should be dismissed. Two appeals by Miss Telford were dismissed.
However the tribunal dismissed her claims and issued a judgement last month.
The tribunal panel said: “What was clear to the tribunal, was that Miss Telford had failed to acknowledge during the investigation process, any awareness of the risks on her part involving data security.
“The memory sticks contained not only the Sellafield PDC, but also personal photographs and work relating to Miss Telford’s weekend job with the computer game retailer, Game.
“This suggested that not only was sensitive work systems/data downloaded onto the unencrypted personal USB sticks, but occupied the same hardware with
personal data too.
“Ultimately, she did not provide any convincing evidence that her health issues/disability materially affected the conduct under investigation by Sellafield.
“She may have worked atypical hours because of her medication, but she did so to function effectively at work and there was no credible evidence to suggest that her decision-making skills and overall capability for her role were so impaired that she decided to use an inappropriate USB stick and to remove it from her office.
“The tribunal failed to see any evidence that Miss Telford recognised her wrongdoing.
“One does not have to be an enthusiast of the history of espionage to be aware of how the smallest of information breaches can form part of a much wider programme or strategy by a third-party body to undermine sensitive industries such as Sellafield.
“It is not hyperbole or hubris for an employer dealing with these environments to treat any data breach as potentially forming part of a much greater danger to the business, the local environment or indeed the nation as a whole.
“It is unfortunate that Miss Telford failed to recognise the real dangers and concerns which arose from the way in which she managed the data.”
