Disability Discrimination?

DaisySteiner80

Hello,

I was sacked on the spot last week and the reasons cited was 'poor performance and that they simply cannot sustain me anymore.
For the last year I have been celebrated as being the highest performer of my team by over half. I have stats and evidence to back this up. I suffer very badly from anxiety, that the company have always known about as I'm very open and honest about this.

The week before Christmas I got verbally abused by another work colleague in front of my entire office due to me not understanding a technical question. I felt completely humiliated and this had a massive knock on effect to my work performance.

When I approached my manger and explained what had happened she turned it around on me and said it was my fault for frustrating my work colleague. My work place have a massive bully culture and have a very good habit of just making people ' disappear' so I kept my head down and mouth closed.

I knew something was amiss as I notice changes in behaviour, patterns etc and after 2 days of being completely on edge i pulled my manager into a meeting to ask if i needed to start looking for another job. She promised me and assured me everything was fine.

A week later I am sacked on the spot for 'poor performance'. I was given no warning, no support, no action plan or PIP to get me back on track (even though my stats completely went against everything she was accusing me of).

I was not given a weeks notice which is by law, what they should have done, I wasnt given any information about appealing or who I would even appeal to.

My contracts they can only fire me instantly for gross misconduct. Jokes are often thrown around the office about people with mental health, they make fun of, laugh at and my manager always joins in. She is a bully and a narcissist and thinks she is above the law because she / the company have gotten away with it for years.

Do i have a good case against this company for disability discrimination? I really would appreciate any advice.

Thank you

KatrinaWaves

Sorry to be blunt but where is the disability discrimination? You say your work has begun to decline after the incident before Christmas, so them saying your performance is poor isn't new to you?

How long have you worked there?

DaisySteiner80

No, that's absolutely fine.

I dipped for 1 week because of my anxiety after consistently being top performer and because of this I was fired on the spot.

DaisySteiner80

Sorry, I forgot to mention I was there just over a year.

KatrinaWaves

DaisySteiner80 wrote: »

No, that's absolutely fine.

I dipped for 1 week because of my anxiety after consistently being top performer and because of this I was fired on the spot.

I'm assuming with the weeks notice you have had less than 2 years employment, which unfortunately limits your options in terms of dismissal.

I feel it would be difficult to prove that this was solely down to your anxiety (which may not be classed as a disability, depending on a few factors) instead of the fact you did perform poorly.

If you were a top performer, why do they want rid of you? DO you want to work for a company like this...

DaisySteiner80

Mental health is classed as a disability that falls under the Equality Act 2010 and it is classed as one of the 'protected characteristics that if you are sacked for discrimination against this characteristics then the 2 year rule does not apply.

I don't agree that this would be difficult to prove as the 1 week of me so called 'dip' was due to my mental health, therefore them firing me for this is a complete act of discrimination. The fact that I have always consistently been the top performer, been celebrated by the entire company for it, promoted for it, given bonus's that I shouldn't of had whilst I was on probation due to how high it was.

Again - Yes, I did perform poorly, for 1 week, due to my mental disability. Sacking someone for poor performance, there are procedures that have to be followed.

Like clear evidence of this, I was never provided anything, in fact all the evidence states the complete opposite. I was never given a chance to make amends, no offer of a PIP.

I could understand that if they had of done all of this and I was still failing then yes, they can fire me on the spot for capacity reasons.

I absolutely do not want to work for this company but they need to know they are not above the law.

Comms69

DaisySteiner80 wrote: »

Hello,

I was sacked on the spot last week and the reasons cited was 'poor performance and that they simply cannot sustain me anymore. - How long have you worked there?
For the last year I have been celebrated as being the highest performer of my team by over half. I have stats and evidence to back this up. I suffer very badly from anxiety, that the company have always known about as I'm very open and honest about this. - Anxiety is not necessarily a disability; but leaving that aside; what's the job and the KPIs?

The week before Christmas I got verbally abused by another work colleague in front of my entire office due to me not understanding a technical question. - Please clarify exactly what happened. Quite often 'verbally abused' means someone raised their voice. I felt completely humiliated and this had a massive knock on effect to my work performance. - so your work has not been up to standard for the last 4-5 weeks?

When I approached my manger and explained what had happened she turned it around on me and said it was my fault for frustrating my work colleague. My work place have a massive bully culture and have a very good habit of just making people ' disappear' so I kept my head down and mouth closed. - Obviously they don't kill people, so...

I knew something was amiss as I notice changes in behaviour, patterns etc and after 2 days of being completely on edge i pulled my manager into a meeting to ask if i needed to start looking for another job. She promised me and assured me everything was fine.

A week later I am sacked on the spot for 'poor performance'. I was given no warning, no support, no action plan or PIP to get me back on track (even though my stats completely went against everything she was accusing me of).

I was not given a weeks notice which is by law, what they should have done, I wasnt given any information about appealing or who I would even appeal to. - As long as you're paid for the week that is all that you must have

My contracts they can only fire me instantly for gross misconduct. Jokes are often thrown around the office about people with mental health, they make fun of, laugh at and my manager always joins in. She is a bully and a narcissist and thinks she is above the law because she / the company have gotten away with it for years. - Had you complained? If not, any complaint now will just look vengeful at best

Do i have a good case against this company for disability discrimination? I really would appreciate any advice.

Thank you

Please answer above questions

Comms69

DaisySteiner80 wrote: »

Mental health is classed as a disability that falls under the Equality Act 2010 and it is classed as one of the 'protected characteristics that if you are sacked for discrimination against this characteristics then the 2 year rule does not apply.- No. Please don't start that nonsense. 'Mental Health' is NOT a disability. (and that isn't why you were sacked)

I don't agree that this would be difficult to prove as the 1 week of me so called 'dip' was due to my mental health, therefore them firing me for this is a complete act of discrimination. - No it's not. 1: you may not have a disability. 2: There is no evidence that you were sacked for that reason. The fact that I have always consistently been the top performer, been celebrated by the entire company for it, promoted for it, given bonus's that I shouldn't of had whilst I was on probation due to how high it was. - so why would they want to lose their top performer?

Again - Yes, I did perform poorly, for 1 week, due to my mental disability. Sacking someone for poor performance, there are procedures that have to be followed. - No there are not. Literally could've just said "Thanks, you're no longer required, bye" and that's it

Like clear evidence of this, I was never provided anything - nor should you be , in fact all the evidence states the complete opposite. I was never given a chance to make amends, no offer of a PIP. - Nor is that required

I could understand that if they had of done all of this and I was still failing then yes, they can fire me on the spot for capacity reasons.

I absolutely do not want to work for this company but they need to know they are not above the law.

There is NO evidence they have breached the law.

batg

Is anxiety classed as a disability? I didn't know that.

polgara

From what you have posted I don’t see any evidence that you would be classed as disabled so my advice would be move on and find another job.

DaisySteiner80

Hello

I have worked there for just over a year. If you have a long term mental illness that lasts longer than 12 months and can affected your day to day activities then it falls under the Equality Act 2010.

There have never been clear, precise text on what our KPI's are, just that a report gets run every month and i have always come out top by over half.

I was shouted at and called stupid by a fellow colleague as I didn't understand a technical question.

No, this incident happened on the Monday and for that 1 week only my performance 'dipped' We broke up for the Christmas break and on my next 121 i was fired on the spot.