Discriminated against, harassed and victimised by the NHS after cancer

by Maria Esposito

Discriminated against, harassed and victimised by the NHS after cancer

by Maria Esposito
Employment
Lawyers: didlaw
United Kingdom
Maria Esposito
Case Owner
A dedicated NHS worker now despondent and broken. I never thought the NHS would discriminate, harass and victimise me when I wanted to return to work after breast cancer.
21
days to go
£2,015
donated of £4,000 stretch target from 41 pledges
Donate now
Maria Esposito
Case Owner
A dedicated NHS worker now despondent and broken. I never thought the NHS would discriminate, harass and victimise me when I wanted to return to work after breast cancer.
Donate now

Latest: Feb. 26, 2026

It's Finally Over - We Reached a Settlement

IT'S FINALLY OVER - WE REACHED A SETTLEMENT.

I honestly don’t quite have the words… but I will try.

This outcome would simply not have been possible without the extraordinary support of family, friends…

Read more

Why I Need Your Support Again

Hello, I’m Maria Esposito. I work for the NHS and in 2024 I was diagnosed with breast cancer. When I tried to return to work, I was met with discrimination, harassment and victimisation.

I am now facing the next critical stage of my Employment Tribunal claim: a Preliminary Hearing on 4 March, and I urgently need legal representation to prepare for and attend that hearing.

Earlier fundraising allowed me to submit my ET1 claim and obtain legal advice to assess my case following the Respondent’s ET3 response. I am deeply grateful to everyone who helped me reach that point.

Since bringing this claim, however, repeated delays, errors and a failure to resolve matters have created a devastating financial situation. I have exhausted sick pay and am now on zero income. To make matters worse, I have been told I was overpaid due to the Trust’s own administrative error and am now being asked to repay a large sum of money I simply do not have.

We are challenging this, but that means yet more legal costs for me. Throughout this process, the Trust’s inability to manage my case without errors has been staggering — and I am the only one paying the price.

Trying to rebuild life after cancer has been unbearable. My wife and I were both diagnosed with breast cancer just five weeks apart, and we are still recovering physically, emotionally and financially.

Employment Tribunals are often described as accessible. In reality, they are not. While I am forced to fundraise for basic legal representation, the NHS can spend public money litigating for as long as it chooses. Delay costs them nothing. It has cost me my income, my security, my stability and my health.

This process isolates you. You lose colleagues and professional networks. Life is put on hold while decisions are delayed. This is the unspoken punishment of Employment Tribunals — and institutions like the NHS understand this very well.

How Your Support Will Help

Funds raised will go towards:

  • Solicitors’ fees to prepare for the Preliminary Hearing on 4 March

  • Legal representation at the hearing itself

Without this support, continuing becomes impossible — not because my claim lacks merit, but because the system favours those who can afford to wait others out.

Thank You

I am sincerely grateful to everyone who has supported me so far. If you are able to donate or share this appeal, thank you. Your support helps challenge a system that too often relies on exhaustion, isolation and financial ruin to silence people who speak up.

Recent contributions

View all comments

Support the case

I will pledge £10 I will pledge £25 I will pledge £35 I will pledge £50 I will pledge £100 I will pledge £200
Update 3

Maria Esposito

Feb. 26, 2026

It's Finally Over - We Reached a Settlement

IT'S FINALLY OVER - WE REACHED A SETTLEMENT.

I honestly don’t quite have the words… but I will try.

This outcome would simply not have been possible without the extraordinary support of family, friends, colleagues, and the incredible network of compassionate, principled people on X who stood beside me when things felt impossibly heavy.

To those of you I know and love — you are everything. Your belief in me carried me when my own reserves were depleted. Your messages, calls, donations, quiet check-ins, and unwavering solidarity have meant more than I can ever properly express. And to a very special Texan nephew whose generous donation had a huge impact to make these negotiations possible, I'm sending a big YE HAW!

To those of you who supported me whom I have never met — your kindness has restored my faith in humanity. You saw something unjust and you acted. You gave your hard-earned money, your time, your platform, your encouragement. I hope one day I am able to repay that generosity forward in meaningful ways.

This has been one of the most challenging chapters of my life. Navigating an Employment Tribunal while recovering from breast cancer drained me in ways I struggle to articulate. There were days when the weight of it all felt unbearable. But because of you, I was never alone in it.

I also want to place on record my enormous gratitude to Elizabeth McGlone and Beatrice Young of Didlaw. There is no adequate way to thank them for their expertise, their steadiness, their clarity, and their fierce professionalism. They believed in my case. They guided me with integrity. They never lost sight of the human being at the centre of it. I will be forever grateful.

And finally the woman who has always been there and who has shared the whole journey including breast cancer recovery my incredible and amazing wife of 28 years - I lucked out big time when she came into my life. My eternal thanks go to her for picking me up, keeping me going and loving me no matter what.

So it’s over.

And now — the healing starts for both of us.

Healing from the stress.
Healing from the injustice.                                                                                                      Healing from the sadness of losing a job I excelled at
Healing from the fight.

Thank you for helping me reach this point. Truly.

With love and deep gratitude ❤️

Update 2

Maria Esposito

Feb. 9, 2026

£210 to Go: Gratitude, Solidarity, and the Reality of an ET

It’s the start of another week — and another week of waiting for decisions, with zero salary coming in.

I’m incredibly close now: just £210 to go to reach my £2,000 target to engage counsel for my preliminary hearing. I am genuinely overwhelmed by your generosity. Your support hasn’t just helped financially — it’s played a huge part in keeping my spirits up and my hopes alive while navigating the relentless reality of an Employment Tribunal.

My tenacity also comes from keeping firmly in mind that no one recovering from cancer should face discrimination when trying to return to work — especially not when their employer is the NHS.

I did have a real high point recently: a phone call with the wonderful , who is also bringing an Employment Tribunal against the same Trust. Her case has been high-profile and incredibly important, and I’d strongly encourage you to read about it here:
👉 Jennifer Melle
Please also look out for her tribunal coming up in April.

Speaking with someone else living in this strange twilight world of an ET — the mental stress, anxiety, and the very real physical symptoms they trigger (IBS, migraines, insomnia…) — was deeply affirming. It’s a reminder that this process takes a toll far beyond the legal paperwork.

Alongside fundraising, I’ve been trying to use my artistic skills to survive this period. I’m currently taking commissions for portrait work, and you can find me on Instagram at White_on_Black_Portraits. Please do share this around — every bit of support helps.

While this appeal is focused on the pre-hearing, I’ll need to continue raising funds beyond this stage, as the next major step will be preparing the tribunal bundle for exchange by the end of the summer.

Thank you, truly, for standing with me — we are so nearly there. 💛     

Update 1

Maria Esposito

Feb. 2, 2026

Over Halfway There – Thank You from the Bottom of My Heart

Dearest supporters,

A little update from the coalface of going through an employment tribunal.

Last week was a particularly bad one. I always know it’s a bad week when the time between getting dressed and putting my pyjamas back on gets shorter and shorter. This is the lived experience of being a claimant — the emotional toll, the exhaustion, and the constant sense of having to endure rather than heal.

The Trust has doubled down on reframing my role as “50% manual handling”, and has again refused to acknowledge the central truth of my case: I am only off sick because management failed to implement the agreed grievance outcomes back in December 2024. Not because I am incapable of working — but because they would not allow me to return safely or lawfully.

Against that backdrop, reading recent coverage in The Telegraph and The Observer about cancer patients being helped to stay in work felt like a real slap in the face. The stated intention may be admirable, but for those of us working within the NHS and facing discrimination after a cancer diagnosis, the irony is painful. One might be forgiven for thinking the NHS is somehow exempt from this drive to retain staff with cancer, as in my case it has failed to show even the most basic duty of care to one of its own.

The daily worry about finances is relentless and overwhelming. If Wes Streeting truly wants to help NHS staff, then meaningful reform must include limiting the unchecked access Trusts have to public funds for litigation, so that claimants are not financially crushed simply for asserting their rights. There cannot be a fair system when one side has endless resources and the other is fighting to stay afloat.

I still need to raise funds as I head towards the pre-hearing, and I am hoping — with everything I have — to reach the target that will allow me to secure counsel representation. Your continued support, donations, and sharing of my page make a very real difference, not just financially but emotionally.

As ever, thank you for standing with me. It means more than I can say.

💛

Support the case

I will pledge £10 I will pledge £25 I will pledge £35 I will pledge £50 I will pledge £100 I will pledge £200