NHS worker wins £30,000 after being compared to Darth Vader

Telegraph

07-05-2025

An NHS employee has been awarded almost £30,000 after being compared to Darth Vader by a colleague, an employment tribunal has ruled.
The tribunal heard how Lorna Rooke, a blood donation worker, was offended after a colleague took a Star Wars-themed personality test on her behalf and told colleagues how the results showed she had a Darth Vader-type personality.
'Darth Vadar is a legendary villain of the Star Wars series, and being aligned with his personality is insulting,' a judge concluded, adding that it was reasonable for her to perceive the characterisation of being like the Hollywood villain as a 'detriment'.
Being associated with traits of the evil overlord, known for his mask and scuba-style breathing, made Ms Rooke feel 'unpopular,' the employment tribunal in Croydon, south London, heard.
'It is little wonder that the claimant was upset by it,' the judge concluded.
'Focused individual who brings team together'
The quiz taken by Ms Rooke's team was a Myers-Briggs Type Indicator personality test with a Star Wars theme, which a colleague completed on her behalf after she temporarily left the room to take a phone call.
In the online test, anyone who received a Darth Vader result was described as 'someone who was a very focused individual who brings the team together'.
Although a judge found that the 'Darth Vader incident' did not cause Ms Rooke to resign from her job in 2021, she concluded that it 'was a detriment,' noting how it was not her answers that gave the Darth Vader result but rather those of her colleagues.
This, she said, reflected her co-workers' 'perception of the claimant's personality and was shared in a group environment'.
The tribunal heard how Ms Rooke continued to work for the respondent after the 'Darth Vader incident,' volunteering to deliver a training workshop, amending the terms of her work-provided car lease and requesting carer's leave.
Ms Rooke, who worked for the NHS Blood and Transplant service from 2003 to 2021, claimed that because of her anxiety disability and low mood she was treated less favourably than she might have been after she rescinded a resignation request.
The respondent said none of the people who made the decision knew about her disability.
Ms Rooke won her case for detriment after a protected disclosure, partly because of the Darth Vader quiz result, but lost claims for constructive unfair dismissal, direct disability discrimination and failure to make reasonable adjustments.
In total she was awarded £28,989, which included £12,000 by way of compensation for injury to feelings.