Council worker ordered to pay £20,000 after taking up second job at British Gas while on ‘sick leave’ and starring in their promo videos

DAILYMAIL.COM • 1h ago

By CLAIRE DUFFIN, SENIOR REPORTER and CAMERON CHARTERS 13:06 14 Oct 2026, updated 21:07 14 Oct 2026

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 the firm while she was on sick leave from her job at Southwark Council in London.

She was found to have 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 working for the energy giant instead.

Having worked for the council for 15 years, she was fired for gross misconduct after being spotted in a social media video for British Gas.

She took the council to an employment tribunal alleging discrimination, but lost her case.

Now the tribunal has ordered her to pay her former employer £20,000 for bringing the failed lawsuit.

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 in its Children’s Services department 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 [and] 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.

But she continually delayed the return, claiming 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 as 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 employer 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.’

Emirati royal passed out on busy west London street with three-year-old child after cocaine binge

Trump plucked Katie Zacharia from obscurity to be the new face of his White House. 15 excruciating…

Revealed, final hours of the tiger attack victim: Former child actor, 24, mauled to death at…

Civil servant ‘earning £280,000 from FIVE government jobs at same time’ didn’t need performance…

Innocent couple killed alongside two of their children in arson attack suffered three-year campaign…

Football coach goes viral for his ‘fight’ not to even glance at glamorous journalist during…

Ukraine accuses America of helping Russian war effort as Starlink is ‘throttled’ overnight and US…

London’s oldest restaurant, Rules, ‘where kings dined and politicians and writers plotted’, given to…

Anti-migrant protester arrives at court in burqa after he was charged with breaching face-covering…

‘Tasteless’ Trump sparks outrage with AI video parodying Yorkshire zoo tiger attack that shows…

Katie Price lashes out at lawyer of ex-husband Kieran Hayler after she is accused of ‘lying’ during…

Wheelchair-bound amputee, 71, with one leg is told he must supply more proof before he gets a blue…

A rather unorthodox priest: Father sprinkles holy water over fence during bitter boundary dispute…

Hunt for ‘killer’ after couple and two children die in house fire – and two more youngsters fight…

The Badenoch Bounce goes on! Second poll puts resurgent Tories ahead of Reform and Kemi’s personal…

QUENTIN LETTS: Dame Emily, dazzlingly dimpled, gurgled that ‘Germany is and always has been a key…

Council worker took up second job at British Gas while on ‘sick leave’Comments are subject to our House rules and TermsNewest{{#isModerationStatus}}{{moderationStatus}}

No one seems to have shared their thoughts on this topic yetLeave a comment so your voice will be heard first.

{{upVotes}}{{downVotes}}{{#replies.comments}}{{^isLast}}{{initials}}{{userAlias}}, United Kingdom, {{formattedDateAndTime}}{{message}}

{{upVotes}}{{downVotes}}{{/isLast}}{{#isLast}}{{initials}}{{userAlias}}, United Kingdom, {{formattedDateAndTime}}{{message}}

{{upVotes}}{{downVotes}}{{/isLast}}{{/replies.comments}}{{/replies.totalCount}}{{^replies.totalCount}}{{initials}}{{userAlias}}, United Kingdom, {{formattedDateAndTime}}{{message}}

{{upVotes}}{{downVotes}}{{/replies.totalCount}}{{/isComment}}The opinions and views expressed in the comments section are solely those of the individual users and do not represent or reflect the opinions, views, or positions of MailOnline. MailOnline does not endorse, support, or verify the accuracy of any user-generated content.Terms|Privacy|FeedbackOldest{{#isModerationStatus}}{{moderationStatus}}