£25,000 – Man with cerebral palsy wins discrimination case
£25,000 – Man with cerebral palsy wins discrimination case against Home Bargains, his former employer. Ryan Walker, who worked as a sales assistant at the company’s Armagh shop, took the case after his duties were changed. He had informed the firm that he needed to be physically active to manage his disability but was later moved from stacking shelves to working on tills. Home Bargains settled the case without admitting liability. Mr Walker said his experience had been awful and he had gone from “enjoying a job for three years to dreading going into work.” Mary Kitson from the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland said: “No employee with a disability should feel that their needs are not understood or valued by their employer.”
Our comments: – Man with cerebral palsy wins discrimination case against Home Bargains
Matthew Pinto-Chilcott, FCIPD, ACEL, Owner of Consensus HR comments: “This is an interesting case that occurred in Northern Ireland which currently does not use the Equality Act 2010 but their own version which is very similar to ours and can be found by clicking here. Companies need to ensure that if informed of a disability they need to obtain professional medical advice to ascertain if any reasonable adjustments are needed as was the case in this scenario. In this situation, the business obviously needed more cashiers but had not fully thought through the consequences and needs of the member of the team involved due to their disability. If you are ever unsure of what action to take to ensure you are working to best practice and law, we advise that you talk to a Chartered HR professional and avoid this kind of scenario in your workplace where somebody dreads coming to work and an award of £25,000.
YOUR OUTSOURCED HUMAN RESOURCES DEPARTMENT.
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