A former administrator at Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust has been awarded £27,208.74 by an employment tribunal after the trust failed to make reasonable adjustments following a brain haemorrhage.
Rose Davies suffered a subarachnoid brain haemorrhage in February 2001, which left her with memory and concentration problems, and a sensitivity to noise and light. She began work as a part-time administrator with Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust’s predecessor organisation, 2gether NHS Foundation Trust in March 2014.
She struggled with noise levels in the workplace from 2015, which worsened in June 2018 once a new member of staff joined. Davies asked Jim Stone, her line manager, if she could move to what she considered the quietest corner of the office, but he said no. After a one-week absence due to work-related stress, clinical manager Angie Fletcher suggested she move to a different desk to the one Davies had asked for, and also told her she could not wear ear defenders as she would need to hear the telephone and other colleagues.
A seventh occupational health report highlighted that adjustments were needed, however no concrete proposals were put forward as the employer did not believe there were any further adjustments that could be made. A display screen equipment assessment was conducted seven weeks later, but Stone left the action-to-take column blank.
During October 2018, Davies worked late as she was struggling with the noisy environment in the office, prompting a review of her workload by Fletcher. Her last day at work was 31 October 2018.
After attending a meeting with Fletcher, a colleague and her union representative, Davies applied for the post of audio typist and admin assistant at Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in January 2019. She learnt that she had been successful on 24 January 2019, however the reference from Fletcher noted her sickness absence, and on 6 February she was informed she had been unsuccessful. Davies submitted a formal grievance of disability discrimination.
During an informal grievance meeting on 29 April 2019, her employer proposed moving her to a quieter desk in the office, offering noise-cancelling headphones, and configuring her telephone to ensure that it had a flashing light to indicate an incoming call. Partition screens would also be installed around her desk to reduce noise levels.
However, Davies remained wary. The tribunal found that she “put up unnecessary barriers to her return to work” and said it was satisfied that there were no reasonable grounds to doubt the agreed adjustments would be implemented before her return. Davies then resigned on 24 October 2019, declining a meeting on 4 November to discuss other options.
The tribunal ruled that the Fletcher breached his duty to make reasonable adjustments between June 2018 and 8 July 2019, and failed to make reasonable adjustments between September 2015 and March 2017, but that Davies’ claim had been made out of time. The amount awarded for injury to feelings was £18,000.
Employment judge Harris said: “The tribunal was satisfied that the respondent had not taken such steps as it was reasonable to take to avoid the substantial disadvantage to which the claimant was put by [her disability]. The respondent’s case was that it had taken reasonable steps throughout the period of time that the claimant had complained about the difficulties she was encountering in the office environment. The tribunal disagreed.”
A Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust spokesperson added: “We are sorry that we failed to deal with the recommended reasonable adjustments for Davies in an appropriate and timely manner. We recognise that our response to her workplace needs was not in line with our usual high standards and values as an employer. We have reflected and learnt from the findings of this case and continue to prioritise and improve our approach to optimising equality, diversity and inclusion in employment.”
