Benefits nurse sacked in Facebook posts row Published duration 30 August 2016

image copyright Family handout image caption Jay Goldstein (left) said the couple are glad "the right thing" had been done

A disability benefits assessor who was suspended after allegedly posting abusive comments about disabled claimants on Facebook has been sacked.

Capita - which assesses claimants for the government - confirmed the nurse was dismissed two weeks ago.

The Facebook posts were found by Sarah Goldstein, 24, who had been turned down for personal independence payments (PIPs) by the nurse.

Husband Jay Goldstein said he was glad "the right thing" had been done.

image copyright Facebook image caption Mrs Goldstein found the assessor's Facebook after a number of "falsehoods" had been written in the report about her PIPs claim

Mrs Goldstein, who has fibromyalgia Raynaud's phenomenon , and suffers with chronic anxiety, migraines and depression, claimed Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) and first applied for PIPs in October 2014.

Mr Goldstein said she had been assessed last year but turned down for PIPs because it was felt she was "making everything up".

Mrs Goldstein reapplied for PIPs at the end of 2015 and was assessed at her home in Ilkeston, Derbyshire, in March by the nurse.

But the couple's suspicions were aroused when they found they had been turned down by the nurse on the basis of a number of "falsehoods" in an accompanying report, which has been seen by the BBC.

These included claims that Mrs Goldstein had given birth to 13-month-old daughter AJ naturally. In fact, Mrs Goldstein had a Caesarean and said she was never asked about the birth.

image copyright Facebook image caption It is believed the nurse had been working at Capita for a few months prior to the posts being seen on social media

Mrs Goldstein saw the nurse's name on the report and looked her up on social media "to make sure everything was above board" and discovered the posts.

One, written in July 2014, appears to attack a claimant who had lost two legs as a child and had appeared on a programme about benefits.

The post said he should "get a job fitting carpets" and that she "would like to catapult the scrounger back to...[where] he came from".

It is believed the nurse started working for Capita a few months before the July post.

In a statement, a spokeswoman for the outsourcing firm said: "We can confirm that the individual in question no longer works for Capita."

Mr Goldstein, 25, said his wife has had a new assessment and is awaiting the result.

"We are glad that Capita has done the right thing and sacked the nurse," he said.

"We feel a tiny bit of justice has been done."

Related Topics Ilkeston

Disability