A retired canoe polo athlete has won a payout of nearly £150,000 after her boss summoned her for a meeting then didn’t bother showing up – even though she drove back overnight from Germany to attend.Gold medallist Bethan Littlewood had to pause her trip away and drive back to the UK because her manager ordered her to attend a meeting at the last minute.The 29-year-old, who was working as a personal trainer at Nuffield Health, arrived on time – only to find out that her boss was “double booked” and was attending a training elsewhere.Ms Littlewood, who won gold in canoe polo for Great Britain at the 2019 European Championships, said that the incident was the “last straw” and resigned.She went to the employment tribunal, successfully claiming unfair dismissal, unauthorised deductions from wages, holiday pay, and being subjected to a detriment for making protected disclosure.She has now won £149,017 in compensation."It’s been a long long time in the making, and it’s been a bit of a process and it’s hard to say you’re happy after everything you’ve been through, but it’s something, you know?" she said."The craziest thing is, the whole time they were like ‘You haven’t got a case’. I was thinking ‘there’s no way what you’ve done is right’."Bethan Littlewood said the skipped meeting was the ‘last straw’ (Solent News)Ms Littlewood claimed that Nuffield Health tried to pressure her to take back her claims.The employment tribunal, held in Cardiff, heard that she worked as a personal trainer with Virgin Active from 2015 before her employment was transferred to Nuffield Health in Bridgend, Wales, in 2016.She reported Declan Morris, a new fitness manager, in June 2022 for carrying out a Ministry of Defence fitness test on someone who had an elevated blood pressure reading, which meant he should not have done it.She only reported the matter after she had first raised it with him and he reacted in a “hostile manner”.Ms Littlewood was informed that Mr Morris would have to go through "retraining" to make sure he was carrying out the tests in the right way.From that month onwards, Mr Morris began withholding three hours of pay a week from Ms Littlewood.Ms Littlewood made a complaint about Mr Morris in October 2022, saying that the more senior employee had been hostile and said to her “you didn’t have to go and tell on me” regarding the blood pressure incident.She said that he was "bullying her and withholding her wages" after the incident, adding "he has held it completely against me and has been particularly unpleasant and unfair".In October 2022, Ms Littlewood was reported by Mr Morris for not following the shift times she was due to carry out.That was despite the fact that he had not properly informed her about the rota change.In November and December 2022 Ms Littlewood’s pay was significantly reduced, and she was "placed into financial hardship" as a result of the withheld pay.A Nuffield Health customer reported Mr Morris in November 2022 after witnessing his behaviour towards Ms Littlewood.The customer said: "He proceeded to tell [Ms Littlewood] off in front of me saying she should know better, repeating to her what he had said to me but in a menacing and even threatening voice, belittling and humiliating her in front of me."The tribunal heard: "The member went on to say they considered Mr Morris had chosen the moment to maximise his need to demonstrate power, she was shocked by his behaviour and felt compelled to write the letter, describing it as verbal aggression."Ms Littlewood’s bullying grievance against Mr Morris was not upheld by Nuffield Health, and the customer complaint had not been mentioned during the investigation by the manager it was reported to, James Cheadle.Ms Littlewood was signed off from work with stress in early 2023.A disciplinary hearing against Ms Littlewood was held in May 2023, based on an allegation that she had falsely claimed inflated pay.She was given a final written warning for this, which was upheld on appeal.In June that year, she submitted a request for annual leave on September 5 and 12.Her request was declined by Mr Morris on September 7, with the reason being that she was on sick leave.She had already travelled to Germany to compete at the Canoe Polo European Championships when she was told by Mr Cheadle that he "required her attendance on 12 September at 1.00pm".The tribunal heard: "[Ms Littlewood], very conscious she was on a final written warning, drove back through the night from Germany to make sure that she was at the meeting."When she arrived at the club on 12 September 2023 and reported to reception she was advised that Mr Cheadle was not at the club but in Newbury attending some training."Mr Cheadle explained in his witness statement that he was aware he was double booked with training and meeting [Ms Littlewood]."The general manager instructed him to attend the training and ‘in the worst case scenario’ the manager was in the club and available."The tribunal found Ms Littlewood was not informed she could speak to the general manager.This incident was the "last straw" for Ms Littlewood, who handed in her resignation.Employment Judge Samantha Moore said that she was entitled to take annual leave during sick leave, and she had felt she was fit for work, but Nuffield Health had not properly engaged with her about returning."We consider the leave was not refused for genuine reasons and was of mischievous intent," the judge said.EJ Moore continued: "If there was one act by [Nuffield Health] that demonstrated the contemptuous manner of the treatment of [Ms Littlewood], this was it."To refuse leave requested months earlier, knowing what competing meant to [Ms Littlewood], and require her to attend a meeting and then not bother to turn up was contemptuous and wholly unreasonable."Having regard to the above we have concluded [Nuffield Health] in a course of conduct fundamentally breached the implied term of mutual trust and confidence entitling [Ms Littlewood] to treat the contract as at an end."The judge found that the disciplinary allegations against her should "never have been escalated to the degree they were", and it was "wholly unreasonable to accuse [Ms Littlewood] of dishonesty" relating to the pay rates for classes.Ms Littlewood has now retired as a competitive canoe polo athlete for Great Britain, and instead she coaches the Danish women’s canoe polo team.Following several years of looking for work, Ms Littlewood has joined the Royal Marines Reserves, and works as a sports coach for a local authority.