A council worker has been ordered to pay £20,000 after she took up a second job at British Gas while on sick leave – and was caught starring in one of their YouTube videos.
Elisha Neavin, 37, took up an apprenticeship with British Gas while she was on sick leave from her job at the London Borough of Southwark council.
She breached council rules by taking up the apprenticeship while claiming she was 'unfit for work' due to her mental health.
Ms Neavin claimed her therapy and the fact she was observing Ramadan meant she could not attend meetings – all while attending work at the energy giant for a second salary instead.
Ms Neavin, who worked for the council for 15 years, was fired for gross misconduct after she was spotted in a social media video for British Gas.
She took the council to an employment tribunal alleging discrimination but lost her case at London South Employment Tribunal.
Now, the tribunal has ordered her to pay £20,000 to London Borough of Southwark for bringing the failed case.
The tribunal ruled: '[Ms Neavin] is ordered to pay a contribution to the [council's] costs in a sum summarily assessed at £20,000, which is around one half of the [council's] total costs in defending this suite of litigation.'
Ms Neavin started working for the council as a Practice Coordinator within Children's Services in 2010.
She suffered with mental health issues such as depression, anxiety and complex PTSD, as well as having dyslexia which could affect her work.
Ms Neavin's contract with the council stipulated: 'Any outside employment, either paid or unpaid, must not in the view of this Council conflict with or act detrimentally to the Authority's interest or in any way weaken public confidence in the conduct of this Council's business.
'It is a requirement of your employment that you notify your manager of any employment with another employer.'
In September 2023 she had an occupational health meeting and a report was drawn up saying: 'Overall, Ms Neavin [is] unfit for work at present.
'Given the severity of her anxiety and depression during today's phone call, and her commencing [Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)] therapy, it is likely that Ms Neavin will experience worsening of symptoms as she progresses through her therapy.'
Managers concluded that it would be 'reckless' or possibly even 'negligent' to allow the care coordinator to continue to work in light of the medical report.
Ms Neavin said she wanted to continue working but was signed off.
It later arose that she had started her employment with British Gas from or around December 11, 2023.
After an invitation to a meeting to discuss Ms Neavin's welfare and her return to work, she replied: 'Will you please allow me to engage in therapy without being constantly harassed bombarded...
'Should you insist I attend the meeting during prayer time and the holy month of Ramadan whilst in therapy (which I'm sure you was made aware that I am a practising Muslim during your detailed handover) what about this request took that into consideration.'
The managers re-evaluated Ms Neavin's case in a capability hearing and ordered that her medical suspension be lifted in September 2024.
However, she continually delayed the return, saying that she was suffering from 'panic attacks and anxiety' and would not be able to return until December 2024.
Shortly after it was discovered that Ms Neavin had been working for British Gas at the same time she had been avoiding work at the council.
YouTube videos were found posted by the energy giant which showed Ms Neavin claiming that she had worked for a local council.
After an investigation she was dismissed for gross misconduct in March 2025, but she later took her former employers to an employment tribunal alleging that placing her on medical suspension and then firing her were discriminatory due to her disabilities.
Her claim of unfair dismissal was thrown out in a preliminary hearing, but a host of others, including that her suspension and later capability hearing were discriminatory, were dismissed at a final hearing at a London South Employment Tribunal.
Employment Judge Francesca Yardley said: 'The Tribunal finds that the medical suspension was a proportionate means of achieving legitimate aims and was justified.
'The Tribunal finds that [the council] was pursuing the legitimate aims of safeguarding [Ms Neavin's] health, enabling a safe and supported return to work, and managing prolonged operational uncertainty arising from extended medical suspension.
'The Tribunal finds as a fact that throughout the period of medical suspension, [Ms Neavin] repeatedly declined to engage with reasonable management requests, including weekly well-being calls, attendance at review meetings, and consent for an updated Occupational Health referral.
'Communication was limited to sporadic text messages and several letters sent by recorded delivery were returned unopened.
'These matters created significant barriers to any meaningful review of her fitness for work or implementation of adjustments.
'The initiation of a capability process in April 2024 was a proportionate means of achieving those aims after repeated attempts at engagement had failed.'