I'm supporting a friend to take her mental health employer to tribunal for mental health discrimination but we need your help to pay for legal costs if it goes all the way.

My friend who I shall call Lily for the purpose of maintaining confidentiality while we are in process has worked for her employer for a long time and it is widely known that she has anxiety and depression. Lily had always had support and reasonable adjustments but recently there'ss been a change in management and that has changed.

So far I've been supporting all I can as a CEO of a small charity with some experience as an employer. Obviously I can't go into too much detail as the case is live and we must respect the confidentiality of her employer at this stage, but I have been shocked by the processes used by a mental health charity, which include:
- Suspending her (on a paid leave if absence) with no detail via a late night email, and then denying her request to bring someone with her to an informal meeting and denying her any information at all.
- Following no information and no support being offered she was then signed off with poor mental health.
- She was then reduced to stat sick pay (previously always paid full pay) with no notice.
- Following an informal meeting, with no outcome, it was left up to her to contact them about returning to work. She returned with no outcome and despite asking though a formal grievance she only got a response 220 days after she was first suspended after submitting a subject access request and was told told there was never any grievance against her.

As someone who is responsible for employing people I've been supporting her to bring a case to tribunal with help.from CAB. However, we would be better supported at tribunal with legal help. We could get representation for the proposed 4 day tribunal hearing for £500 a day.

If it doesn't go to tribunal the money will go to CAB to be ringfenced for legal costs for anyone else in the same position as Lily