A former senior college lecturer could receive a huge payout after a colleague was recorded mocking her and was found to have spread false racial abuse claims.

An employment tribunal found in favour of Dr Sharon Turton, who taught psychology at MidKent College before she “was forced to take voluntary redundancy” due to undue stress.

While she is pleased with the outcome of the 10-day hearing, the court heard that a series of “difficult social interactions” at the Gillingham campus over a period from September 2021 had left her mentally drained and unable to return to work. She also had to go to hospital with stress-related illnesses.

She said: “I will never be able to enter the workplace again. I cannot go outside without having a panic attack.

“My mother, who is in her 80s, has become my full-time carer, and I’m having ongoing therapy.

“It’s not about the money. No money can compensate what this has done to me and my family.”

Dr Turton’s legal team told education publication FE Week they want up to £450,000. MidKent College bosses would not be drawn on the figure but did confirm they were taking the findings seriously and reviewing processes.

The teacher, who suffers from Asperger’s Syndrome, severe complex post-traumatic stress disorder and ADHD, had been open about her health issues with staff and students.

The tribunal heard how a fellow lecturer, Ms Woodman, mocked her disabilities on several occasions by tapping her head to indicate her “mental problems” and made derogatory remarks about her loss of memory.

This was reported to the college by students who had recorded a lesson for their note-taking.

An investigation was launched after one of them also complained Ms Woodman said her coursework had been deleted because Dr Turton disliked her “because of [her] family background and that all Gypsies should not be allowed to have an education”.

The judge ruled this was “fabricated information” of “false racist remarks” concerning the student’s Traveller heritage.

This led to rumours circulating about Dr Turton and prompted her to post on Facebook addressing her 40 friends, including former students, appealing for more information concerning these untruths.

She wrote: “A recent newcomer where I work has, among other despicable things, told a vulnerable student a bunch of lies causing the girl to think I had said some terrible things about her.

She added: “Please let me know if you hear anything.”

However, Dr Turton said she was unaware of the college’s policy not to post on social media, and, as soon she was told it was inappropriate, took it down.

She told KentOnline: “I didn’t know I was doing anything wrong and stand by what I did.

“I needed to know if there were rumours about me being a racist, and there were. I was fighting a smear campaign against me.”

‘I loved the job and had planned to continue until I was 71…’

Dr Turton was signed off sick with “stress-related illness” returning in March 2022 and working mostly from home at her request to avoid the lecturer and another colleague, Ms Peet.

A confrontation took place at the Medway campus in April 2022 when she came across the two women “in the staff room and they both shouted” at her: “Hello, Sharon.”

Other members of staff described this as “very confrontational” and “excessive” behaviour. Dr Turton did not go into the room again.

Of the six complaints, including harassment related to disability, direct disability discrimination and failure to make reasonable adjustments for disabilities, three were ‘well-founded’ and the other three were dismissed.

Dr Turton, now aged 64, was a specialist psychology lecturer at the college from August 2014 until August 2022 working at the Medway and Maidstone sites.

In June 2022, she and the two other lecturers were informed they were at risk of redundancy “due to a reduction in student numbers”.

Dr Turton disputed this saying she felt it was “constructive dismissal”.

While signed off work, she was invited to a redundancy selection interview but she accepted voluntary redundancy instead due to her health issues.

She told the HR department: “This whole year has been utterly traumatising for me and I can no longer cope with everything work-related. I will be taking early retirement from teaching because of it.”

The judge heard in evidence she was “having a breakdown” and could not go through the redundancy selection process at all.

The report said she felt that she had no option but to take redundancy saying she believed if she stayed she would have died.

The tribunal found “considerable evidence” that decision-makers considered Dr Turton to be difficult and internal HR emails suggest they may have seen redundancy as an “opportunity” to dismiss her.

Simon Cook, principal and chief executive of MidKent College, said the college takes the findings “extremely seriously”.

He added: “Throughout this time, the college has continued to learn and grow, strengthening its policies and practices to foster a more inclusive workplace.

“We are reviewing our internal processes to ensure that all concerns raised by staff are appropriately addressed and that our commitments to equality, diversity and inclusion are upheld in all aspects of college life.”

Dr Turton, speaking at her home in Ashford, said: “I loved the job and had planned to continue until I was 71.

“I was given the option to postpone the hearing because I had more evidence, but this has gone on too long and I needed to get it over.”

She said her aim was to make managers and HR teams aware of the problems facing disabled people in the workplace and to “expose” the behaviour shown to her.

She said: “It’s no good knowing about the Equality Act if you don’t know about hidden disabilities.

“People ask what proof you have, but a lot of it is verbal and you don’t have any.

“Luckily, I have family in the legal profession who have helped me.

‘It’s no good knowing about the Equality Act if you don’t know about hidden disabilities…’

“But there are many in my situation who will not know how to get evidence together.”

She said one of the traumatic moments was being wrongly branded a racist.

She added: “My first concern was for the student and I asked for somebody else to cover her class.

“And then I thought, oh my God if they believe it I could be sacked on the spot, lose my house and even get a criminal record.”

Dr Turton thanked her legal team for fighting her case through the tribunal and not accepting an out-of-court settlement.

She said: “The judgement is the first step, but there’s still a long way to go.”

The lecturer, who has three daughters and six grandchildren, hopes to spend time writing a book she started eight years ago.

She also has an 11-month-old Doberman puppy to keep her company.