Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Highland woman suing police for discrimination after job offer U-turn due to being on antidepressants

The force does not take on probationary officers if they have been on antidepressants in the previous two years.

Laura Mackenzie standing.
Laura Mackenzie was turned down by Police Scotland are being on antidepressants. Image: Laura Mackenzie.

A Highland woman whose job offer to become a police officer was rescinded due to being on prescribed antidepressants is suing the force.

Laura Mackenzie, who is from Inverness, passed the recruitment process to become a police officer in June 2019 and was offered a position in the November of that year.

However Police Scotland did a U-turn after discovering she was on antidepressants for post-natal depression, including anxiety.

Two police Scotland officers standing to side of police motorbike.
Police Scotland does not take on probationary officers if they have been on antidepressants in the previous two years. Image: Andrew Milligan/PA Wire.

Mrs Mackenzie, who is now training to be a nurse, was told she had been rejected from the force due to their policy of not employing probationary officers who have been on depressant medication during the past two years.

Police Scotland, which was formed in April 2013, is being sued by the Inverness resident for disability discrimination.

An employment tribunal will now take place after it was given the go-ahead by Judge Russell Bradley, despite it being reported more than three months after it took place, which is outside the usual time limit.

Full hearing to take place next year

Despite the police lodging a re-consideration against the decision, it was rejected by the judge.

The force also lodged an appeal with the Employment Appeal Tribunal – an independent tribunal which settles legal disputes around employment law – but this also proved to be unsuccessful.

A preliminary hearing is expected to take place before the end of 2023, with the full hearing due to take place next year.

Antidepressant tablets.
Around eight million people in the UK are said to be on antidepressant medication.

Miss Mackeznie is being represented by MML Law, a law firm based in Dundee.

Speaking to The P&J, Jay Lawson from the firm said that “similar circumstances” have arisen, with a number of cases being brought against the police.

With Police Scotland arguing that the current rule is in place to ensure that “mentally resilient people” become officers, Mr Lawson does not understand this thinking.

‘What does a police officer experience that a nurse doesn’t?

He said: “What does a police officer experience that a nurse doesn’t? Nurses experience the same sort of stressful job environment and they also see and deal with quite harrowing things as well.

“So to say that she was mentally unfit to be a police officer but mentally fit enough to be a nurse, it seems to be fairly contradictory in our view.”

Mr Lawson says that it is “awfully bizarre” that potential police officers are refused due due to being on antidepressants within the past two years, although serving ones are not affected.

Jay Lawson standing up with people and building in the background.
Jay Lawson from MML Law said Police Scotland’s policy was “awfully bizarre”. Image: Jay Lawson/LinkedIn.

He added: “I can guarantee it that there is probably a large proportion of Police Scotland’s workforce that during their time of being a police officer have been on antidepressant or anti anxiety-medication.”

A Police Scotland spokesman said: “It would be inappropriate for us to comment at this stage.”

Conversation