Healthcare assistant who told transplant patients COVID was 'fake information' was fairly sacked, tribunal rules

Published 14 October 2026, 17:56

• Employment Judge Hyams and panel member Mr L Hoey unanimously threw out all of Giovanna Marino's claims against Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Trust.
• Marino shared conspiracy websites, refused to wear her mask properly and photographed patients — one barred her from their room.
• Her refusal to mask around immunosuppressed patients was 'something of an obsession,' the tribunal found, rejecting her vegan discrimination claim too.

A healthcare assistant who told vulnerable transplant patients that COVID-19 was "fake information" was not unfairly dismissed, an employment tribunal has ruled.

Employment Judge Hyams and panel member Mr L Hoey unanimously dismissed all of Giovanna Marino's claims against Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, including unfair dismissal, discrimination because of a philosophical belief in veganism, disability discrimination, failure to make reasonable adjustments, and unpaid wages.

Marino worked as a Healthcare Assistant in the Transplant Unit at Harefield Hospital from 14 November 2016 until her dismissal on 22 January 2021.

Patients on her ward fell into two categories: those awaiting transplants who had end-stage heart and respiratory failure, and those who had already received transplants and were immunosuppressed — all of whom were considered at high risk from coronavirus.

The case began in September 2020, when Principal Clinical Psychologist Dr Melissa Sanchez relayed complaints from a long-stay patient.

"I think it is both inappropriate and unhelpful for a member of staff to be calling into question the need or validity of covid precautions in this setting," Dr Sanchez wrote, adding it "places undue stress on patients, who are already under considerable psychological strain."

An investigation by Ms Faye Musselle gathered accounts from two anonymous patients.

Patient A said Marino "Tells everyone COVID not real, says people don't die of COVID," and that she shared websites and her own YouTube channel promoting conspiracy theories, writing details "on a piece of paper or napkin."

Patient A also said Marino told patients she attended an anti-mask rally and did not wear a mask in supermarkets.

Patient B overheard her saying at the nurses' station that COVID was "a made-up illness by American Donald Trump" — while a nurse who had recently lost a relative to the virus stood nearby, visibly upset.

Patient B barred Marino from their room, citing improper mask wearing and "double standards" since relatives could not visit "but someone who is refusing tests and not wearing their mask properly can."

Colleagues repeatedly reported Marino wearing her mask below her nose, untied and "flapping" while giving direct patient care.

Colleague Sheeba Joseph emailed Matron Helen Doyle saying Marino "is a serious risk to patients and staff" and recommending disciplinary proceedings because "verbal warning has not worked."

Doyle warned that an outbreak among immunosuppressed patients "would be a disaster," telling investigators: "There would be absolute carnage on the ward."

Marino also admitted photographing patients on her personal device during a takeaway evening without written consent, claiming their waving showed consent: "You can see from the photo they are waving, there is consent."

The tribunal found this breached the trust's information governance principles.

At her investigation interview, Marino insisted masks lose fibres and "are not certified to keep the virus away."

Told that a nurse who lost a relative to COVID had been upset by her comments, Marino replied: "I'm sorry but you can lose your relative, but I am telling you scientific evidence, so you can go to the Psychologist for your problems."

At her disciplinary hearing before Ms Penny Agent, Marino said: "It's not a belief, it's scientific evidence."

Asked what she had learned from the process, she said: "I'm writing a book. This is what I've learnt about this investigation. I'm writing a book."

At her appeal before Mr Nick Hunt, Marino compared mask policy compliance to Nazi guards who "defended themselves saying, 'oh, we were following orders'."

Hunt's decision letter said her view that patients' "need to know the truth" overrode their care was "both disturbing and unacceptable."

Her "complete lack of reflection and contrition means that the Trust can have no trust or confidence in you ceasing to behave in this way," Hunt wrote. "Consequently the only option is to dismiss you."

The tribunal concluded Marino refused to mask "purely because she was fundamentally opposed to the use of such a mask for theoretical reasons" and had "something of an obsession about it."

Dismissal was "well within the range of reasonable responses of a reasonable employer," the panel found.

The judges rejected her disability claims, finding she was not disabled under the Equality Act despite her claimed alpha thalassaemia trait.

She never raised shortness of breath until her November 2020 interview after suspension, obtained no GP exemption, and her GP record was "not a definitive diagnosis."

Her vegan discrimination claim also failed, with the tribunal finding her belief played no material part in her dismissal — only the manner in which she gave unqualified dietary advice that "had in fact in the past caused harm to a patient."

A 2019 "datix" recorded her telling a patient who was rapidly losing weight that her food was unhealthy, causing confusion over conflicting advice.

Her claim for £1,023.34 in unpaid wages failed, with the tribunal finding she was "paid properly," including arrears of £248.12 paid in February 2020.

In April 2023, Employment Judge Havard ruled at a preliminary hearing that her views on COVID, PCR tests and masks were "a series of strongly held positive views" lacking "cogency and cohesion," not a protected philosophical belief under section 10(2) of the Equality Act 2010, and refused her whistleblowing amendment as "very substantially out of time."

At that hearing, Marino gave inconsistent evidence, saying "The Coronavirus pandemic is a scientific fact" but also: "I agree there has been something that had caused a lot of people to die and I don't agree with it being called the Coronavirus pandemic."

Her reconsideration application was refused in May 2023, a November 2024 hearing was postponed over a disputed list of issues, and the final hearing took place in August and September 2026, with Marino attending remotely from Georgia.