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.

In 2011 she was diagnosed with spondylitis in her lower back and severe dermatitis. A report from her doctor stated that working in the bakery “is not in the best interests of her health at present”. She said the company ignored that and continued to roster her to work in the bakery.

In mid-2011, the employee began experiencing temporary loss of sight in her right eye. She was diagnosed with optic neuritis and multiple sclerosis. She remained off work on certified sick leave from May 2012.

In July 2012, her GP told the company of the serious nature of her diagnosis. In what was described as a tersely worded letter, the firm’s HR manager, Mr B, wrote to her saying she had to contact him by a certain date to arrange a meeting to discuss her situation, adding that “failure to do this will leave me with no option but to assume you are not returning to [the company]”.

Mr B submitted an assessment application to occupational health firm Medmark in February 2013. In his report, the Medmark doctor made no reference to the woman’s MS and said her symptoms seemed “well controlled” and she would be in a position to return to work “shortly”.

A certificate from the woman’s GP certified her as fit to return on light duties. It stated: “I would support her application to transfer to another area as she will find it difficult to stand for eight hours and work in heat given her diagnosis.”

Despite the certificate, the company told the woman she would have to return to work in the bakery as there was no other job for her. A number of weeks later, she was offered a different contract but with fewer hours — meaning less pay — and with the right to ask her to work in the bakery.

Equality officer Aideen Collard said the company had “fundamentally misinterpreted and misconceived” its obligations.

“In reality, the complainant was employed as a sales adviser which entailed a wide range of functions, with work in the bakery being just one of those,” said Ms Collard.

“Given the repeated refusal to consider any accommodation before this complaint was submitted, I am of the view that this [new contract] was a half-hearted attempt to meet the claim in advance of any hearing.

“Overall, I find the respondent’s intransigent attitude and lack of empathy to a valued employee diagnosed with a serious condition, as evidenced in all communications from HR staff, to be wholly reprehensible,” she said.