Discriminated against?

[sbelial]

I have a problem at work where my employer (a college) is refusing to accept that I have a disability. I suffer from both long-term depression (7 years) and have to take daily medication for this and also Aspergers' syndrome (diagnosed 4 years ago). Both of these conditions were declared when I started work and although the college denies this is the case I have written proof that they were fully aware of them..

Anyway, my main question is does refusing to acknowledge I have a disability under the equality and diversity act actually constitute discrimination in itself? My main concern is that if my employer refuses to acknowledge that I have a disability then how can they be compelled to make reasonable adjustments for it?

[charitynjw]

Re: Discriminated against?

Hi sbelial, & welcome to Legal Beagles.

The Equality Act 2010 lists a number of 'protected characteristics', amongst which is disability.

Disability is any condition, physical or mental, which has an adverse affect on the ability to conduct day-to-day activities.

If the perceived discrimination applies an individual, this would be direct discrimination if that discrimination is detrimental to the individual.

In the employment context, the employer, when they become aware of the disability, has a duty to consider how they can make 'reasonable adjustment to the working place & working conditions in order to compensate for or accommodate the individual (or group of individuals).

The 'but for' test is a useful indicator; 'I would not have been treated differently to others but for my disability'. (It is advantageous to identify a comparitor, perhaps a colleague who does not have the disability & is treated more favourably as a result).

As a rule of thumb, the larger the organisation, the more they are expected to make reasonable adjustment, but reasonable is the operative word here.

Is there an HR department there, with a route to Occupational Health?

[sbelial]

Re: Discriminated against?

Thank you for your reply,

I'm afraid that this is just one of many problems I'm having at work at the moment and my employer seems determined to work against me rather than making more than a token effort to implement any reasonable adjustments. I'm under the impression that they think if they can show they've done *something* then this is all they need to do which is very different to my understanding of the law where they are obliged to consider what reasonable adjustments can be made for each aspect of my employment etc.

I've previously been referred to occupational health after constant requests of my part and they agree that I do have a disability and recommended that I would need to see them again if my situation changed but did make some suggestions for reasonable adjustments which largely haven't been implemented by the college. For example they suggested that I should have routine and regular scheduled meetings with my line manager to discuss how I was feeling but despite doing this for a few weeks the meetings soon because less frequent and totally unscheduled. Some of the other suggestions such as being able to work from home during student holiday time have taken place but it's all been on a very informal basis which is hard for me to cope with as I need things written down and formalised. The regular meetings was the most helpful thing for me and I tried to make this very clear at the time.

There have been several occasions where I have suffered extreme panic attacks at work and on the last occasion had to leave suddenly as I was extremely upset and on-edge/confrontational. I'm off sick again with depression at the moment as I'm now spending far too much time trying to get the college to acknowledge they need to do something to help me that it's actually making me feel worse. My line-manager has already made various verbal threats regarding disciplinary proceedings against me although the senior management of the college deny that this is the case. For example after my previous major panic attack he falsely claimed that the principle herself was going to taken disciplinary proceedings against me.. I've now had three of these 'incidents' in my employment at the college but really do think they could have been avoided if reasonable adjustments such as the regular meetings had been in place. I'm also very surprised that nothing has been put in place to give me some way of coping when these panic attacks occur as I realise simply leaving the premises isn't acceptable behaviour. I'm quite sure this is bullying/discriminatory behaviour but as it's only ever done verbally I have no proof and he denies things afterwards such as telling me I wasn't promoted because I "don't know people well enough" and so on...

I've previously raised my issues via grievance procedure but don't feel that this has been given any serious consideration and I get the distinct impression that because I have mental health issues they don't take what I am saying as being serious. Colleagues who have physical health problems get a significantly better response from HR in general with meetings to discuss the efficacy of their reasonable adjustments etc. When my colleague enquired last week about her reasonable adjustments she was offered a next-day meeting whereas I have to push to be seen at all.

I think perhaps I most disappointed that they are trying to escape any responsibility by denying that I'm actually 'disabled' under the EDA and I actually find this quite offensive as it's clear that I have two non-trivial conditions that do cause me problems at work and require some reasonable adjustments to be made and adhered to. Am I right to be upset by this? My disability is part of who I am and being told that it's not a proper disability seems to be equivalent to denying someone is black because their skin isn't quite dark enough!

[charitynjw]

Re: Discriminated against?

Hi sbelial,

I have to go out now, but I've read your post & will reply later.

In the meantime I'm sure you will be offered loads of useful info via others on here.

[charitynjw]

Re: Discriminated against?

Hi sbelial,

I must admit to being somewhat surprised here.
Most educational establishments that I have had dealings with have been scrupulous to the point of being anal when it comes to equality & diversity matters.
However, it would appear from your posts that the sticking point seems to be the line manager.
Obviously in that case the grievance should be made to his managers, or further up the chain as is necessary.
Did you receive a written outcome of your grievance (or was it just an 'investigatory'?)

[sbelial]

Re: Discriminated against?

The college are usually very good when it comes to students but treat teaching staff very badly indeed, I'm just one of many who management seem determined to push out of a job by any means necessary..

The grievance so far has gone all the way to the top (the principle herself) and I've already appealed against her findings that the college/HR had no case to answer. The senior management are known for sticking together and shielding each other from any blame and this is exactly what has happened here as no real effort has been made to investigate the numerous issues I've raised. I'm quite sure if I had had a physical disability then things would be very different indeed.

The written response I received was initially 'lost in the post' and then hastily written several months after when I complained. It basically dismisses all of my concerns and claims that HR are only interested in periods of absence lasting over three weeks whereas I was only signed-off for three etc. To be honest it all sounds like a pack of lies but I'm not clever enough to go up against such people

I will try to post some extracts from the reply if that might help? Obviously I will annonymise details so the institution in question cannot be identified.

Thanks,

SB

[JinnyD]

Re: Discriminated against?

Hi

My daughter has Aspergers, she was lucky being diagnosed at 7 years old. She has had a lot of support and training.

Your struggling because your routine has been broken. What you are feeling is normal for a person with Aspergers.

The issue is the routine needs to be put back in place to enable you to function.

It would be best if you have help to do that.

In my area the local council has a supported employment service for disabled people. They help disabled people or carers into paid work or training and also help employers to support disabled people in work.

It might be worth asking if there is an equivalent service where you live. From personal experience having an intermediary who can do the talk and has a perceived "professional" status stops situations like this arising and can help to rectify them.

Also have you been in touch with the National Autistic Society? They can be very supportive and offer many different kinds of help including strategies for managing the Aspergers Follow the links. Home page, http://www.autism.org.uk/ and help with employment http://www.autism.org.uk/living-with...mployment.aspx.

Hope this helps

JinnyD

[charitynjw]

Re: Discriminated against?

I will try to post some extracts from the reply if that might help? Obviously I will annonymise details so the institution in question cannot be identified.

Thanks,

SB

Hi sbelial,

If you think it could shed some light on the substance, & that it is sufficiently anonymised not to reveal identities, then please feel free to post it up.