Equality Tribunal awards MS sufferer €30,000 for ‘wholly reprehensible’ treatment by employer

The Equality Tribunal has described as “wholly reprehensible” the lack of empathy a multinational retailer showed to an employee with multiple sclerosis.

The tribunal awarded the employee €30,000 in compensation for breaches of the Employment Equality Acts after hearing of the considerable upset, anxiety, and distress suffered by the woman over the way the company responded to her diagnosis and addressed her desire to return to work.

The complainant started working for the retailer in 2006 and worked in a number of different areas of the store — as stipulated in her contract — including the bakery. In October 2010 she was permanently transferred to the bakery.