ABSTRACT
In 2006, Sutton and Merton Hospital Trust dismissed a care assistant who was originally from Malawi. She had not committed any disciplinary offence, or failed in her duties. She had come to Britain with her husband, who had a work permit to work at the hospital, and as a dependent family member, she too was entitled to work. But when her husband died, that entitlement ceased, and when the UK Borders and Immigration Agency refused her appeal to stay, the National Health Service (NHS) Trust dismissed her (Sutton Guardian 2010). This could not have happened if she had been British, or a citizen of any other EU state. Effectively she was dismissed because of her nationality.
