Discrimination service helps a disabled adult challenge unfair treatment in the workplace

Our Civic Legal Advice (CLA) funded discrimination service helps clients from across England and Wales to challenge unlawful discrimination in both employment and in the provision of goods and services.

This case shows how one of our advisers helped a client use the Equality Act 2010 to challenge discriminatory employment practices and gain compensation for their unfavourable treatment. Naturally, names have been changed to maintain anonymity.

Chris is 21 years old disabled person who started a new job in retail. He required reasonable adjustments to enable him to do his job, which included reasonable time off for medical appointments. These adjustments and the details of his disability were fully discussed in the recruitment process, however, as soon as he started work he experienced difficulties with his line manager.

The line manager refused to implement the adjustments needed, denied Chris time off for medical appointments, and bullied Chris by spreading gossip among the workforce about his condition. Chris tried to resolve this informally but that did not work, so he made a formal grievance about the situation. Sadly, Chris felt he had no option but to resign after only 3 months in the role. This not only left him with no job and no income, but affected his mental health significantly.

He contacted us for advice about challenging this.

What we did

This case was typical of the type of disability discrimination we see in employment cases and is one of the most common issues dealt with by this service overall.

We advised Chris about the process he would go through to challenge this. He was keen to try and reach a settlement and we valued the claim at around £5000.00 based on previous case decisions and court guidance. With our support, Chris contacted the conciliation service ACAS and entered into settlement negotiations with his former employer.

Ultimately they offered a settlement of £5500.00, which was happily accepted. This delivered some redress to Chris for this unlawful treatment and allowed him to move on from this difficult period.

We helped Chris negotiate a potentially complex legal proceeding to a successful outcome and ensured he was compensated for losses suffered for discriminatory behaviour. He used the money to buy a car which has allowed him to seek alternative employment more easily, and was bolstered knowing that he did not have put up with being discriminated against in the workplace.

If you would like to know more about the Discrimination Service, or have an issue you would like to discuss with them, contact us today