Meet Margaret Hurst. Senior Administrative Associate at Cummins Inc. Margaret Hurst’s recent LinkedIN post about pain shaping us into stronger souls feels like a slap in the face when you know the truth about Cummins Inc. She’s all poetic about leaping over hurt and asking if we’re okay, but her company’s track record with mental health is a goddamn disgrace. Let’s rip the mask off this hypocrisy.
Back in 2016, Waqas Mohammed, a machinist who gave Cummins decades, crumbled under anxiety and depression. He asked for a therapeutic break and got a disciplinary hearing instead – then a sacking. The Employment Tribunal called it out: discrimination arising from disability, unfair dismissal, and awarded him nearly £30,000, including £10,000 for injury to feelings. A clear loss. But did Cummins learn? Hell no. They’ve got a live appeal now for another mental health disability case, and I’m the latest casualty. Lee Thompson, sacked while off with depression, fighting solo while they throw money at lawyers.
Their first tribunal win against me? They hauled in Wendy Miller KC, a barrister known for securing acquittals in cases involving alleged child violators. That’s the big gun they needed to take down a self-represented guy? It’s telling – desperate, even. Miller shredded my case with technicalities, exploiting my inexperience and condition. Ironic that this individual turned exploitative, given her client list. Sidestepping the mental health mess, she won round one. That victory’s a hollow flex, not a triumph. To the appeal court we go.
Hurst’s talk of pain as a teacher rings hollow when Cummins is the one wielding the blade. They lost to Mohammed, they even appealed to put him through the ringer again, and lost again! And they dare to play the mental wellness card? It’s bullshit. This company’s culture buries the broken, not lifts them. The hypocrisy’s suffocating – time they faced the music. And perhaps Margaret should champion her hollow cause from the inside, not with cliché social media posts. I would put this to her, but for some reason all Cummins accounts on LinkedIN appear to have blocked my comments in coordination. A discussion they’re not ready to have, unless it makes them look like mental health champions? You decide.
Lee Thompson – Founder, The Cummins Accountability Project.