Olga Gofmane, a manager at one of health and wellbeing retailer Holland & Barrett's branches, was signed off work by her doctor, but she received wages of £1.50 a month after the company deducted sick pay.
The firm conceded that it had not sent a letter alerting Gofmane to the pay reduction.
Gofmane sued the company for breach of contract and the tribunal at Reading, heard how she had been diagnosed with clinical depression after the breakdown of her marriage.
She told an employment tribunal: "To the latter part of 2011, I had to deal with extremely difficult personal circumstances and consequently I started to become physically and mentally unwell.
"I have never suffered like this before and find it very difficult to deal with."
On visiting a doctor on March 20 2012, she was advised to stop working immediately and was signed off.
When she received her pay slip for April, Gofmane found that her sick pay had been deducted, despite the company paying statutory sick pay.
She told the Court: "I rang the HR department the same day. I was sure it was a mistake. I was at my wits' end and totally distressed at the prospect of not having my salary.
"I'm a single mother with two children, with rent and bills and food to buy and was totally panicking as to how I would manage financially."
The panel also heard that she had to get an emergency loan from a friend in Switzerland and also went back to work early, against her doctor's advice.
Holland & Barrett later paid the money, following a grievance brought by Gofmane, but the tribunal subsequently ruled that its actions were in breach of the contract.
At the same hearing the firm was exonerated of any disability discrimination against its employee, who had alleged she was unfairly treated because of her mental health problems.
Judge Russell Hardwick accepted Gofmane's regional manager's argument, that she had suspended the worker because of her not adhering to company rules on reporting absence.
Following the passing of the Equality Act 2010 people with serious mental health problems have greater protection under the law and Gofmane sued the firm, which she still works for, on the basis of disability discrimination.
However, the judge stated the evidence of her having a disability was "scant" and that even if they had considered that her mental health problems amounted to a disability, Holland & Barrett was unaware of it at the time it launched disciplinary proceedings and stopped her pay.
Holland & Barrett contested the allegation of disability discrimination and of breach of contract, arguing that the depression had not been diagnosed at the time and she had not made them aware that she was ill.
