Reconsideration hearing / Contempt of Court application / Further Appeal

My reconsideration hearing went ahead on 27 February 2025 and we received judgment on 6 March 2025. The judgment can be found here.

I won’t go into the details of it, suffice to say that I believe the reconsideration judgment is wrong on a number of counts.

Due to the new evidence we received from the Tavistock’s lawyers and confirmation from the tribunal of what occurred during the hearing, my legal team are now considering an application for Contempt of Court, but we first need to pay for counsel’s advice on whether it has reasonable prospects of success, that is whether we would win that application. 

I am therefore asking for funds to raise £5,000 to cover the costs of advice on prospects of success.

I am also hoping to obtain funds so that I can appeal the reconsideration judgment. I still have my original appeal going ahead likely in late 2025 or early 2026.

As always, I am very grateful for all help received. If you can’t help financially, please do share this webpage on socials.

I will keep you updated as always.

Dr Amidon

01.04.2025

Application for Reconsideration

I have now applied to have the whole of my judgment reconsidered by the employment tribunal.

On 11 February 2025, my legal team received new evidence which is conclusive proof that some of the facts found by the tribunal in paragraph 13 of the judgment cannot possibly be correct. This relates to the tribunal allowing one of the Tavistock’s most important witnesses to rewrite his witness statement mid-trial. This may have far reaching consequences for many parts of the judgment and potentially it may mean that I could win certain aspects of my claim, however, nothing is guaranteed, and I am crossing my fingers at this point.

What it does mean is that my costs application is put on hold for the moment, pending determination of this reconsideration application and my appeal.

I will be able to update you more about the reconsideration following Thursday’s hearing.

Appeal

Alongside the reconsideration and costs application, my appeal has been accepted by the Employment Appeal Tribunal and most of my Grounds of Appeal will now be heard before an EAT judge, most likely in winter 2025. Some of my appeal grounds were rejected, but I am allowed to challenge these rejections and will likely do so.

Consequently, there are 2 parallel ways in which I could perhaps win my case, through the appeal or through the reconsideration.

Redundancy

I might also add that the Tavistock have now made me redundant. The loss of income makes this whole affair very difficult as you can imagine. I loved my job and it made life meaningful and without it I do feel strange as I’ve worked all my life.

Your generous contributions continue to make this fight for justice possible and I am deeply grateful for every single donation. I really look forward to reading your messages of encouragement and the show of solidarity. If you can share this crowdfunder it would be a huge help in ensuring that I can cover all my legal costs in this battle.

Thank you for standing with me. I will keep you updated on all further progress.

Dr Lynne Amidon

24.02.2025

To: My Crowd Funders

I write to update you with a few things on my case.

Appeal

I have now lodged my appeal to the Employment Appeal Tribunal with 10 grounds of appeal and I believe that we stand a good chance. My legal team are challenging core aspects of the judgment. For example, the tribunal found only some of my whistleblowing met the requirements for protected status, but we have appealed on the basis that at least 7 more should have been protected.

I have also appealed the detriment findings. For example, the tribunal found at para 274-5 of the judgment that I had been told to raise any further safeguarding concerns about children outside the Trust. The tribunal held that this was a “fleeting detriment” toward me, but went on to say that there was no evidence this was on the ground the protected disclosures had been made. I find that odd. It seems logical to me that telling me I must raise further safeguarding concerns elsewhere is of course related to my previous safeguarding concerns. Let’s see what the appeal judges say.

I lodged my appeal in early November 2024 and will keep you updated as it progresses.

A copy of the employment tribunal judgment can be found on the employment tribunal website here . 

Costs Application

Also, I wanted to let you know I’ve made an application for costs against the Tavistock. This is despite losing my case (subject to what happens on appeal).

The costs hearing will be on 27 February 2025 and is by video. The costs application relates to the incidents around Mr Bayayi giving his evidence, found at paragraphs 13 – 15 of the judgment. We're going to ask Tribunal Tweets if they can cover it, but please do try to log on so that you can watch it as well. I will provide more details as we get closer to the hearing date.

Many thanks

To: My Crowd Funders

I write to update you that on Friday 18 October I issued a costs application against the Tavistock. I will let you know when this application is heard in the tribunal. Hopefully I will be successful in this application, even though I didn’t win my claim. 

In the meantime, my lawyers are still considering the judgment and whether to appeal against it. The judgment is available onlinehttps://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/67050b42e84ae1fd8592efa9/Mrs_L_Amidon_v__Tavistock_and_Portman_NHS_Trust_-_2200373-2023.pdf

You might like to know that the Time has published an updating article https://www.thetimes.com/uk/society/article/white-whistleblower-who-alleged-racism-by-tavistock-director-loses-case-089xg72g6

I will keep you updated in relation to my appeal.

Dr Lynne Amidon

24.10.2024

To: My Crowd Funders

I just wanted to let you know the judgment in my case is up on the employment tribunal judgment website:

Mrs L Amidon v Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust: 2200373/2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

My legal team are looking into an appeal and I will let you know if and when we lodge an appeal in the Employment Appeal Tribunal.

I would like to thank you all for your continued support. 

Best

Dr Lynne Amidon

14.10.2024

To: My Crowd Funders

It is with sadness that I write to tell you I was not successful in my whistleblowing claim against the Tavistock.

We recently received the judgment and my legal team are considering it.

The tribunal did find I made protected disclosures, but, and this is the important part, found I hadn’t suffered any detriments because of those.  In addition, the tribunal found I hadn’t been racially discriminated against.

The judgment isn’t yet up on the employment tribunal decisions website but will be shortly.

At the moment I am taking some time out for my family, but will meet with my legal team to consider whether any appeal is possible. 

I would like to thank everybody who supported me for their generosity and kind messages of support. I still have legal bills to pay and to fund looking into an appeal so if you are minded I would be very grateful for any further help, but only anything you can comfortably manage.  

To: My Crowd Funders

My trial starts on Monday 13 May 2024, but it is a reading day for the employment tribunal and so no attendance by the parties.

The proceedings will get going on Tuesday 14 May 2024. Tribunal Tweets will be reporting on proceedings.

Tavistock’s witnesses

Mr Hector Bayayi (Former Divisional Director for GIDS)

Dr Sally Hodges (Clinical Chief Operating Officer at Tavistock)

Clare Scott (Chief Nursing Officer at Tavistock)

Patricia Pemberton (Social Worker, Line Manager or Complex Assessment Team, Line Manager for the Looked After Children and Refugees)

Helen Farrington (Former Interim Chief People Officer)

My witnesses

Sonia Appleby (Former Child Safeguarding Officer) (dependent on outcome of our application for a witness summons)

Dr Lynne Amidon (Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist)

Dr Dan McQueen (Consultant Child and Adolescent Child Psychiatrist, Consultant Adult Psychiatrist and Medical Psychotherapist)

Judy Shuttleworth (Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist, Former Visiting lecturer at Tavistock, Former Chair of the ACP)

I will keep you updated as we approach the trial and throughout.

Dr Lynne Amidon

08.05.2024 

Update 3 – Trial in 13 days

Hello to my supporters:

It is now less than 2 weeks to go to my trial against the Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust. The trial starts on Monday 13 May 2024 and will finish on Friday 24 May 2024.

My case is a whistleblowing case. My case is that I reported safeguarding concerns to Sonia Appleby at the Tavistock Clinic and because of doing that the Tavistock retaliated against me.

Although I am very concerned about being cross examined by their legal team, but I must hold firm and do what is right to seek justice.

It has been an immense help when facing the full might of an NHS Trust in litigation to read your messages of support.

I owe all of you so much for your generosity, kindness and support.

Dr Lynne Amidon

30.04.2024

Update 2 – Up coming trial of my matter

Dear Supporters

I write to update my crowd funder and to tell you that my trial is almost here. 

My trial has been set down for 10 days in the Central London Employment Tribunal from 13 May 2024 to 24 May 2024.  It will be an in-person hearing and I do hope for a large attendance from the public and the press so that they can understand what has happened at the Tavistock Clinic and what I say has been done to me. 

My claim is a whistleblowing claim.  That means that I say I made protected disclosures to the Tavistock (about child safety and safeguarding) and I claim that in retaliation for making these protected disclosures, the Tavistock did things to me (“detriments”). 

In my Particulars of Claim I have asked the Court to find:

a)    Institutional collusion between the Tavistock and a local authority to suspend referrals to my Complex Assessment Team because of my protected disclosures – in other words because they were unhappy that I had raised concerns about child safety;

b)    That I was placed under a clandestine review by the Tavistock, to keep investigating me without my knowledge and without any terms of reference; 

c)    That the Tavistock obfuscated the route to reporting safeguarding concerns, in other words to either prevent me from making further safeguarding concerns or to make it more difficult, or to delay any investigation into them; 

d)    Refusing and / or delaying investigating my safeguarding concerns;

e)    Restarting an investigation in June 2022 that had closed in October 2021, shouting and being hostile and aggressive towards me in interviews and spending some 18 months investigating me when it should have been over in 4 weeks.

The Tavistock Clinic denies all of this of course and only an employment tribunal can decide who is telling the truth.  

I have also brought a race claim, that I was treated less favourably because I was white. 

I am used to appearing in Court because I am part of the Complex Assessment Team which did family assessments for Court at the Tavistock Clinic but of course I am still nervous because this time it is my case and everything rests on the evidence and what happens in Court.  

I hope that justice is done and I believe I have a very good case. 

If you are able to support me I would be very grateful. Supporting me may just mean sharing my case on social media and talking about my case. My legal team tells me that you can attend the employment tribunal on the day of the trial and that the trial bundle will be available. 

Thank you for your support.

Lynne Amidon

21 February 2024

Update 1 - I have issued my claim!

To:          My Crowd Funders

I would like to thank my Crowd Funders for a strong start to my campaign. I am immensely grateful for the financial support but also the lovely messages that you have posted which provide a source of strength and encouragement.

Being a whistleblower is incredibly difficult especially when, as I believe, I have been subjected to detriments due to raising them.

I am part of the Complex Assessment Team at the Tavistock. That means that we have to provide an expert opinion on aspects of a case which the local authority have brought before a Court. These expert opinions can be on a wide range of subjects, such as the suitability of parents to care for their children. I have carried out this role for more than 20 years.

My case relates to child safeguarding concerns that I have raised in relation to these types of cases. I believe that due to raising these concerns I suffered detriments by my employer. My case also relates to discrimination against me as a white woman, which I believe I would not have suffered had I not been white. 

Last week with your help I was able to issue my claim in the employment tribunal.

That means the Tavistock will now have to prepare a defence to my claims.

I will keep you updated throughout my case but I wanted to ensure that you were aware that my claim has now been issued.

I hope you all have a very pleasant week.

Dr Lynne Amidon

23.01.2023