NHS worker likened to Darth Vader awarded £29,000

An NHS worker has been awarded almost £30,000 in compensation after being compared to Stars Wars villain Darth Vader at work.

Lorna Rooke's colleague took a Star Wars-themed personality type test on her behalf, with it concluding that Ms Rooke fell into the Darth Vader category.

An employment tribunal in Croydon, south London, found that the incident was a "detriment", meaning it caused harm or a negative impact to Ms Rooke, who worked in a blood donation department.

The claimant was made to feel "unpopular" and suffered from low mood and anxiety in relation to her work environment.

The team were taking a Myers-Briggs questionnaire with a Star Wars theme, with the result characterising each of them as a Star Wars character, the judgement explained.

While Ms Rooke was out of the room, another colleague did the test for her.

The Darth Vader category was described as a "very focused individual who brings the team together", however the judge was not convinced that the categorisation had any positive attributes.

"Darth Vader is a legendary villain of the Star Wars series, and being aligned with his personality is insulting," Judge Kathryn Ramsden said.

She said on the basis that the test was done on the perception of another colleague and then shared with the group, it was "little wonder" that Ms Rooke was upset by it.

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator sorts people into 16 categories based on how introverted they are, their level of intuition, if they are led by thoughts or feelings and how they judge or perceive the world around them.

The tribunal heard that in 2003 Ms Rooke began working for the NHS Blood and Transplant service as a training and practice supervisor and the incident was one of the reasons for her resignation in 2021.

Ms Rooke won her case for detriment after a protected disclosure but lost claims for unfair dismissal, disability discrimination, and failure to make reasonable adjustments.

She was awarded £28,989.61 in compensation.