Tribunal rules that Ryanair discriminated against staff member with brain tumour
04 November 2019
An Employment Tribunal (ET) has unanimously ruled that Ryanair discriminated against one of its employees who had a disability, which led to constructive dismissal.
Ms M Dworak worked for the airline between 2004 and 2018 but, when diagnosed with a brain tumour in 2017, she suffered discrimination on the grounds of her disability. The ET heard that the company failed to comply with the employee’s numerous requests for work that did not require her to fly, and that included ground-based tasks only. This was even after her doctor provided her with a statement of fitness for work with the recommendation of amended duties and adjusted hours.
During several exchanges between Dworak and Ryanair’s HR department, she was told that there was no suitable work available for her and that she should check the company’s website to look for any potential suitable vacancies. The Judge observed that this was not the action of making reasonable adjustments to account for Dworak’s disability. For her to have to apply for a job through the standard recruitment process did not reflect her position as a current, disabled member of staff but put her in the same running as an external, non-disabled candidate.
In 2018, Dworak lodged a grievance but her complaints were ignored. She was advised of jobs she could apply for, but they were not suitable due to location or because of the duties that were involved, which she could not undertake due to her disability.
Dworak eventually resigned and found employment with a different company. The ET ruled that this was constructive dismissal and that the employee had been discriminated against.
The Tribunal serves as an important reminder to employers to be prepared to make reasonable adjustments for disabled staff and what the consequences of not doing so are. If there is no suitable alternative work available, then businesses need to provide evidence as to why, instead of just refusing to provide work. If there is a role that would be suitable, this should be presented to the staff member without the requirement to apply for it.
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