A disability charity in the south west of England has been found to have unfairly dismissed and discriminated against a former employee with Crohn’s disease and long Covid-19.
Shared Lives South West was found by a recent employment tribunal to have unfairly dismissed William Drysdale-Wood, who was employed as a coordinator at the charity.
The tribunal stated that Drysdale-Wood’s complaint of discrimination arising from the charity’s failure to make reasonable adjustments was well founded.
The case will now be listed for a remedy hearing.
A spokesperson for the charity, which supports adults with learning disabilities, autism and dementia, told CornwallLive they were disappointed by the ruling.
Dismissal due to ill-health
Drysdale-Wood was employed by the charity from September 2015 as a coordinator, a role involving the recruitment, training and daily management of carers who support people with eligible needs to live with them in their own homes.
The charity was aware from the start of Drysdale-Wood’s employment that he had a lifelong condition of Crohn’s disease, which will have a likelihood of a degree of sickness absence.
Drysdale-Wood also contracted Covid-19 in January 2022 and was diagnosed with long Covid-19 and chronic fatigue in September 2022.
He then took an extended period of absence between 3 November 2022 and 10 January 2023 based on medical advice.
Drysdale-Wood also had a period of absence from 28 June to 14 July 2023, which he attributed to the charity’s failure to implement reasonable adjustments and referred to his vulnerability to stress and aggravation of Crohn’s disease symptoms.
He felt increasing stress and pressure and perceived that he needed to fight for his rights to work with reasonable adjustments in place.
The notes of a meeting between the claimant and the charity’s people and culture leader on 14 September 2023 showed that the charity could only “tolerate” a maximum of “two to three days in the next three months” of absences.
On 15 September 2023, the claimant received notice by email of the termination of his employment on grounds of ill health.
The letter stated that the charity is not able to sustain continued high levels of absence and while having applied “increased tolerance” to disability-related absence, the claimant’s absence has had an unreasonable impact on other staff.
The charity stated that it felt that the requirements of the role cannot be fulfilled while mostly working at home as there was an essential requirement to interact with people in the community, attend meetings and visit households of those supported.
Charity: ‘We are disappointed by the tribunal’s ruling’
A spokesperson for the charity told CornwallLive: “We are disappointed by the tribunal’s ruling and will take time to review the full written judgment before considering our next steps.
“Shared Lives South West has always sought to act fairly and in line with employment law and best practice.
“Our focus remains on supporting our staff, carers, and the people we support. We will carefully assess the judgment’s findings and, if appropriate, consider any necessary actions to ensure we continue to uphold our values and responsibilities as an employer.”
The claimant told the newspaper: “The process has been really difficult and in terms of the tribunal itself, I am just delighted at the outcome.”
Civil Society has asked the charity for further comment.
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