Disability Discrimination?

miniphernalia

Hi, newbie here so be gentle.

I have been back working at a Hospital for several months, recently my back and neck started to become quite saw, I didnt know why until I realised that it was a draught blowing through a window that was slightly opened. I would close it letting my colleagues know etc but it soon be reopened again if I left the area and returned.

A week ago the pain in my back and neck became unbearable as I was sitting with my back to this draught, it seems as though my spinal condition was reacting badly to it and caused a severe flare up with muscles poking through the skin in my back and neck like mini hernias.

I went home to rest and prior to returning to work the following week I emailed my boss asking that I be allowed to wear a neck scarf and apply personal adjustments to my uniform. Unfortunately the window situation continued and I asked that it be possible to have the windows kept closed within my return to work interview. My Manager agreed that given the time of year and the cold temperatures outside it was not unreasonable to request it and the opening of the windows would at least be kept to a minimum but that I would also be moved to another desk in the office I am based. My Supervisor was also present at the return to work meeting but instead of accepting what the Manager had approved stated that the windows must remain open as and when required due to the heat from the equipment in the office and the effects this has on people when it gets too hot. The meeting concluded and I relocated and had a good day.

The following day however, last Thursday, I started work to discover every single window in the room had been opened, even windows that had not been opened during a hot spell in September. The day before the windows had all been closed with only minor gaps for minimal air flow. It was very cold and breezy outdoors that day and the cold wind from the west was blowing right in, no one asked if this was okay for me and a number of staff were actually complaining it was hot!

I soldiered on that morning, at around 11am I closed the window which the closest to me, I went to lunch and returned at 1pm to find my supervisor was back early and that the window was fully opened again. This being the window that is closest to me and not normally opened.

A staff meeting was convened as per normal that afternoon and all staff attended. The usual things were spoken about but the floor was opened up for AOB.

It started with a colleague saying why I should be given special treatment, why should I get a special chair, why am I allowed to wear a neck scarf, why do I get preferential treatment and get moved to a cushy end of the office and not do certain things etc, I was then compared to a pregnant member of staff who never complains, doesnt use a special chair or moans about the cold from the open windows. Finally my Supervisor said that the windows have to be opened due to the heat. My Manager just sat and said nothing until he gave me the chance to speak.

Even though I dont have to, I told them it is not plainly obvious, even though I have used a walking stick in the office from time to time, I am disabled and suffer a spinal condition.

The earlier comments were repeated and the level of understanding did not improve. I walked out of the meeting prematurely in tears and went awol. I did however report immediately to occupational health followed by attending HR for advice.

I have not returned to work since last Thursday with the exception of a meeting on Friday morning with my Manager and HR. I had intended to return today if it wasnt for the fact that my supervisor made several attempts to contact me on Saturday morning which got my paranoia racing and that I felt harassed.

Management are arranging a mediation between my colleagues and I but they expect me to continue to work under my supervisor when it is her I suspect of being the main cause of the tensions over the windows and my adjustments which upset my colleagues.

Management have refused to transfer me elsewhere on a short term basis or permanently and this morning I was informed to remain off work until an OH meeting on Wednesday.

Management are also trying to convince me not to make a grievance against my Supervisor.

I am happy to speak to my colleagues in mediation but my supervisor has made me feel very uncomfortable both physically and mentally and I feel she has totally disregarded my rights to a reasonable adjustment of the closure of the windows as per agreed to by the manager.

What do I do now? :mad:

marybelle01

I'm not sure that I understand - are you suggesting that everyone who manages you and all your collegaues are prepared to work in conditions where they freeze their ****** off, simply in order to make you uncomfortable and discriminate against you? Becuase if they all say the office is too hot and they need the air, then it doesn't sound like you closing the windows is a reasonable adjustment. And if they are all prepared to sit in the cold just to get at you, then that would suggest that relationships are an awful lot worse than a disagreement over open or closed windows - is that the case, and there is more to this?

If you are the only person that is cold, can you not wear thermals to work or something? I agree that complaining about you wearing a scarf is a little childish, but it sounds like there is a lot more going on here and that mediation may be a sensible way forward.

DigForVictory

Start with all the sense you can get out of the reasonable adjustment squad & take that to the mediation meeting. If you can let your supervisor talk herself into an HR pit, excellent - your odds of a successful redeployment just rocketed. (I'm not unduly impressed by your manager leaving you to explain the disabled bit, either.)

Your colleagues appear to be either under the thumb or the cosh, but are rooted in ignorance - a bit of time spent explaining may be time well spent.

Keep a diary, quietly, and give them a bit of time to try to improve & if they don't/can't/won't despite reasonableness all round, use said diary as ammo. (Bear in mind they are not mindreaders - if you find phone calls out of hours disconcerting, say so.)

miniphernalia

With the windows open I am cold from the draughts and suffering from pain and discomfort.

The others want the windows open as they are complaining its too hot.

The office is in a clinical area, no ties or clothing below the elbows.

Closing the windows to limit or prevent a draught against my twisted and contorted spine is reasonable because it is cost neutral and is directly affecting my physical well-being. Work environments like this do not have a maximum temp but they do have a minimum. The others can make use of desk fans if they think its too hot. The office is warm in my opinion but the problem lays in the exposure to freezing cold draughts, the opening of windows that are not normally opened, the re-opening of windows after I have closed them and the total disregard for the Managers acceptance that the windows should remain shut.

Takeaway_Addict

If they are not willing to move you then you need to look to resolve the issues with your supervisor, if this fails and they still don't move you then you look at possibly a tribunal.

I understand the other members of staff feeling like they have to accomidate you though and that their feelings are basically ignored, which I don't really feel you understand.

miniphernalia

I do understand their perspective, and I also suspect the Supervisor may have left the Return to work interview and spoken to them and said that Jo wants the windows shut, may have fuelled their misunderstanding along with 'Jo getting a special chair' and 'Jo gets to move desk..' both of which were suggestions made and carried out by the Manager.

I dont want to take them to task either as the ignorance they exhibited is just that, one of the points in the meeting that took place ironically was training - Equality and Diversity Updates!

The Manager is wet around the ears and has apologised twice to me in person, however the Supervisor is the person my friends and family think is the problem...

Takeaway_Addict

Could you when you do this mediation explain fully the issues you have? I am aware you probably don't have to but if you are able to explain to the supervisor why the issues are the issues fully it may help them understand that things have to be a certain way.

Also, ask them for suggestions to help improve the situation rather than you suggest them, this way it shows them there is an issue that needs to be dealt with but if they come up with some ideas you may find some that are acceptable to help you (and some maybe already what you have suggested)

Are you in a union?

John1993_2

Would it be worth your wile getting a heated bodywarmer, battery owered, as used by motorbikers?

I've one, and it really does make a difference when it gets very cold, mine's made by Keiis. They also do kidney belts.

Mulder00

The only thing that jumps out at me is that you think your supervisor is the cause of the problem, but you never actually admit that you are sure about this. When your supervisor tried calling you on Saturday, you seem to have just ignored it, so the feeling of paranoia is caused by yourself - why didn't you just answer the call, because then there would be nothing to feel paranoid or harassed about, well, no at least until you know what they wanted to say.

That is probably why management is trying to "convince" you not to make a grievance against your supervisor, maybe because all of this is you and your family guessing who is the cause of the problem rather than just dealing with it.

Instead of just letting these things get to you and sitting around and guessing together with your family who might be to blame and who is opening the windows, maybe you need to be a little bit more proactive and actually speak to your supervisor?

miniphernalia

The phone calls were made whilst I was eating a meal, I only noticed the missed calls 10 minutes after receiving them, three missed calls within 2 or 3 minutes of each other, no voice mail and no text.

I have spoken to the Supervisor leading up to this, she has chosen not to budge and is sticking to the line that she believes the windows should be opened.

I know she re-opened a window that I closed, I know in my heart of hearts she is the problem and I am confident she spoke to my colleagues about the content of a private and confidential meeting.

phill99

How do you know the draught is causing your neck pain? It could be a whole host of things. It could be the condition itself, the way you are sitting, the work activities you undertake etc etc.

Before you go down this route, you need to be sure of your facts.