Disability discrimination during covid pandemic

shellbell20

TG0601 said:

Hi everyone, I’m just wondering if anyone else has suffered disability discrimination in the workplace during then covid pandemic? I had to shield as I’m critically vulnerable, so was furloughed from work. I asked if I could work from home instead. They said home working wasn’t available, however it was. When I asked again to work from home as my colleagues were able to, I was told my absence recorded was higher than there’s so I couldn’t. My absence was due to shielding & disability absence. My condition makes me incapacitated, unable to walk & drive in flare ups. I asked for home working every time I was off sick but was refused. They also denied me car parking space as they were only for senior staff with no disabled parking either. I have a tribunal pending at the end of the year. Have any of you been refused home working also?

How is it going @TG0601?  I have been away for 2 months and arrived back in the UK this week. I have had a reply from the courts a bit of a strange one if I am honest. They sent me a letter, with 2 separate letters inside the envelope. One said that my ET1 had been accepted and sent to the Respondent's, the other letter said there was a preliminary hearing in October and the official hearing in Sept 2023, I think over 3 or 4 days. I thought the preliminary hearing was to set a court date, but it seems I might be wrong. Hmm.  Any way if you can, let us know how it's going.  Thinking about you.

TG0601

Hi @shellbell20 I hope you are well & the trip over the pond  did you the world of good. That’s good news that you have heard back from the Tribunal & your ET1 was successful. The prelim hearing will discuss parts of your case & the other side, if anything needs discussing further or anything is to
be struck out for example. Yes they usually discuss the dates etc they still might as 2023 is a long time away! They will probably ask about witnesses numbers, how many if any. They might offer judicial mediation which is voluntary. I’m not too bad thank you. My judicial mediation was postponed as my solicitor lost his father the day before, so we are just awaiting a revised date before the main hearing at the end of October. I’ve been quite poorly with my health condition so I’ve not been able to do much at all. Just a case of waiting for my tribunal now. Thank you so much for thinking of me. I’m pleased you are back safe x

shellbell20 said:

TG0601 said:

Hi everyone, I’m just wondering if anyone else has suffered disability discrimination in the workplace during then covid pandemic? I had to shield as I’m critically vulnerable, so was furloughed from work. I asked if I could work from home instead. They said home working wasn’t available, however it was. When I asked again to work from home as my colleagues were able to, I was told my absence recorded was higher than there’s so I couldn’t. My absence was due to shielding & disability absence. My condition makes me incapacitated, unable to walk & drive in flare ups. I asked for home working every time I was off sick but was refused. They also denied me car parking space as they were only for senior staff with no disabled parking either. I have a tribunal pending at the end of the year. Have any of you been refused home working also?

How is it going @TG0601?  I have been away for 2 months and arrived back in the UK this week. I have had a reply from the courts a bit of a strange one if I am honest. They sent me a letter, with 2 separate letters inside the envelope. One said that my ET1 had been accepted and sent to the Respondent's, the other letter said there was a preliminary hearing in October and the official hearing in Sept 2023, I think over 3 or 4 days. I thought the preliminary hearing was to set a court date, but it seems I might be wrong. Hmm.  Any way if you can, let us know how it's going.  Thinking about you.

shellbell20

TG0601 said:

Hi @shellbell20 I hope you are well & the trip over the pond  did you the world of good. That’s good news that you have heard back from the Tribunal & your ET1 was successful. The prelim hearing will discuss parts of your case & the other side, if anything needs discussing further or anything is to
be struck out for example. Yes they usually discuss the dates etc they still might as 2023 is a long time away! They will probably ask about witnesses numbers, how many if any. They might offer judicial mediation which is voluntary. I’m not too bad thank you. My judicial mediation was postponed as my solicitor lost his father the day before, so we are just awaiting a revised date before the main hearing at the end of October. I’ve been quite poorly with my health condition so I’ve not been able to do much at all. Just a case of waiting for my tribunal now. Thank you so much for thinking of me. I’m pleased you are back safe x

shellbell20 said:

TG0601 said:

Hi everyone, I’m just wondering if anyone else has suffered disability discrimination in the workplace during then covid pandemic? I had to shield as I’m critically vulnerable, so was furloughed from work. I asked if I could work from home instead. They said home working wasn’t available, however it was. When I asked again to work from home as my colleagues were able to, I was told my absence recorded was higher than there’s so I couldn’t. My absence was due to shielding & disability absence. My condition makes me incapacitated, unable to walk & drive in flare ups. I asked for home working every time I was off sick but was refused. They also denied me car parking space as they were only for senior staff with no disabled parking either. I have a tribunal pending at the end of the year. Have any of you been refused home working also?

How is it going @TG0601?  I have been away for 2 months and arrived back in the UK this week. I have had a reply from the courts a bit of a strange one if I am honest. They sent me a letter, with 2 separate letters inside the envelope. One said that my ET1 had been accepted and sent to the Respondent's, the other letter said there was a preliminary hearing in October and the official hearing in Sept 2023, I think over 3 or 4 days. I thought the preliminary hearing was to set a court date, but it seems I might be wrong. Hmm.  Any way if you can, let us know how it's going.  Thinking about you.

I am sorry you are feeling ill. It's hard enough going to court without that. I hope you feel better shortly.  I have been thinking about you whilst I was away, wondering how you were coping.  I am surprised they haven't come up with a date before October as that is not too far away. How long is the court hearing? Mine I think is over 3 days, which seems an awfully long time. Not sure what a judicial mediation is compared with ACAS mediation and what difference it might make.

I did enjoy my break, however, it didn't seem to help much with my depression and anxiety.  I was hoping it would, doesn't help that the company had still not paid my week in hand nor holiday pay and kept emailing me until I said I've had enough now just leave it and I will settle in court. Funnily enough, my mental health seemed to impact my physical health and finally, it dawned on me when I couldn't move my shoulders or neck that all these years with my aches and pains and so-called pinched back it isn't wear and tear, it's actually Psoriatic Arthritis. If it hadn't been for recent events putting so much stress on me then my symptoms would probably not have flared up so drastically and I would have continued to put it down to age. So I am going to go to the doctor to get the tests.

As for the preliminary hearing I have to fill some kind of form in. I just found it bizarre that they seem to have sent the ET1 to the respondents the same day they have also served them with court dates.  They must have been quite shocked to get those documents altogether without being able to reply with an E3 beforehand.

Any way you need a chat, I am here 24/7 especially since I no longer have a job. lol xxxxx


'

TG0601

Awww thank you so much. & safe here. I’m on long term sick so lots of time on my hands. So sorry I haven’t replied until now. I can’t use my hands in a flare up as they swell the size of melons & are so painful. Typing is really difficult so I’ve had to wait until the swelling reduced a bit. I’m so pleased it you enjoyed your break. Just a shame you still suffer the effects of ill treatment. I do too. I think it will take a long time for both of us to get over the emotional & physical affects. My tribunal is booked over 5 days. I have my judicial mediation next week. My solicitor thinks it will probably be settled then, but I don’t. I was surprised that my solicitor told me yesterday that I can’t include injury to health in my schedule of losses. He’s just put injury to feelings on the schedule with the other bits. He said they don’t include it as you don’t get good sums for injury to health via tribunals & separate personal Injury claims are better. I called my union today to start a claim for injury to health. If however my employers want to settle & I  accept, they will probably put a caveat in it stating I will not be able to bring any other claims against them. So we’ll see. I’m just annoyed that I’ve only just been told I can’t claim injury to health in my schedule of losses. I could have had a personal injury claim well under way by now if I’d been told months ago. When I looked online though I found case law where injury to Health was awarded in a disability discrimination case & CAB website states a tribunal can award injury to health. So why it can’t be put in my schedule of losses is beyond me. There’s a direct link between physical & mental health. The both run side by side. So you need to note all this & also show how constant emailing you caused you added stress. I think judicial mediation has more sway than ACAS as its chaired by a tribunal judge & they try to resolve matters before getting to the main hearing xx shellbell20 said:

TG0601 said:

Hi @shellbell20 I hope you are well & the trip over the pond  did you the world of good. That’s good news that you have heard back from the Tribunal & your ET1 was successful. The prelim hearing will discuss parts of your case & the other side, if anything needs discussing further or anything is to
be struck out for example. Yes they usually discuss the dates etc they still might as 2023 is a long time away! They will probably ask about witnesses numbers, how many if any. They might offer judicial mediation which is voluntary. I’m not too bad thank you. My judicial mediation was postponed as my solicitor lost his father the day before, so we are just awaiting a revised date before the main hearing at the end of October. I’ve been quite poorly with my health condition so I’ve not been able to do much at all. Just a case of waiting for my tribunal now. Thank you so much for thinking of me. I’m pleased you are back safe x

shellbell20 said:

TG0601 said:

Hi everyone, I’m just wondering if anyone else has suffered disability discrimination in the workplace during then covid pandemic? I had to shield as I’m critically vulnerable, so was furloughed from work. I asked if I could work from home instead. They said home working wasn’t available, however it was. When I asked again to work from home as my colleagues were able to, I was told my absence recorded was higher than there’s so I couldn’t. My absence was due to shielding & disability absence. My condition makes me incapacitated, unable to walk & drive in flare ups. I asked for home working every time I was off sick but was refused. They also denied me car parking space as they were only for senior staff with no disabled parking either. I have a tribunal pending at the end of the year. Have any of you been refused home working also?

How is it going @TG0601?  I have been away for 2 months and arrived back in the UK this week. I have had a reply from the courts a bit of a strange one if I am honest. They sent me a letter, with 2 separate letters inside the envelope. One said that my ET1 had been accepted and sent to the Respondent's, the other letter said there was a preliminary hearing in October and the official hearing in Sept 2023, I think over 3 or 4 days. I thought the preliminary hearing was to set a court date, but it seems I might be wrong. Hmm.  Any way if you can, let us know how it's going.  Thinking about you.

I am sorry you are feeling ill. It's hard enough going to court without that. I hope you feel better shortly.  I have been thinking about you whilst I was away, wondering how you were coping.  I am surprised they haven't come up with a date before October as that is not too far away. How long is the court hearing? Mine I think is over 3 days, which seems an awfully long time. Not sure what a judicial mediation is compared with ACAS mediation and what difference it might make.

I did enjoy my break, however, it didn't seem to help much with my depression and anxiety.  I was hoping it would, doesn't help that the company had still not paid my week in hand nor holiday pay and kept emailing me until I said I've had enough now just leave it and I will settle in court. Funnily enough, my mental health seemed to impact my physical health and finally, it dawned on me when I couldn't move my shoulders or neck that all these years with my aches and pains and so-called pinched back it isn't wear and tear, it's actually Psoriatic Arthritis. If it hadn't been for recent events putting so much stress on me then my symptoms would probably not have flared up so drastically and I would have continued to put it down to age. So I am going to go to the doctor to get the tests.

As for the preliminary hearing I have to fill some kind of form in. I just found it bizarre that they seem to have sent the ET1 to the respondents the same day they have also served them with court dates.  They must have been quite shocked to get those documents altogether without being able to reply with an E3 beforehand.

Any way you need a chat, I am here 24/7 especially since I no longer have a job. lol xxxxx


'

. shellbell20 said:

TG0601 said:

Hi @shellbell20 I hope you are well & the trip over the pond  did you the world of good. That’s good news that you have heard back from the Tribunal & your ET1 was successful. The prelim hearing will discuss parts of your case & the other side, if anything needs discussing further or anything is to
be struck out for example. Yes they usually discuss the dates etc they still might as 2023 is a long time away! They will probably ask about witnesses numbers, how many if any. They might offer judicial mediation which is voluntary. I’m not too bad thank you. My judicial mediation was postponed as my solicitor lost his father the day before, so we are just awaiting a revised date before the main hearing at the end of October. I’ve been quite poorly with my health condition so I’ve not been able to do much at all. Just a case of waiting for my tribunal now. Thank you so much for thinking of me. I’m pleased you are back safe x

shellbell20 said:

TG0601 said:

Hi everyone, I’m just wondering if anyone else has suffered disability discrimination in the workplace during then covid pandemic? I had to shield as I’m critically vulnerable, so was furloughed from work. I asked if I could work from home instead. They said home working wasn’t available, however it was. When I asked again to work from home as my colleagues were able to, I was told my absence recorded was higher than there’s so I couldn’t. My absence was due to shielding & disability absence. My condition makes me incapacitated, unable to walk & drive in flare ups. I asked for home working every time I was off sick but was refused. They also denied me car parking space as they were only for senior staff with no disabled parking either. I have a tribunal pending at the end of the year. Have any of you been refused home working also?

How is it going @TG0601?  I have been away for 2 months and arrived back in the UK this week. I have had a reply from the courts a bit of a strange one if I am honest. They sent me a letter, with 2 separate letters inside the envelope. One said that my ET1 had been accepted and sent to the Respondent's, the other letter said there was a preliminary hearing in October and the official hearing in Sept 2023, I think over 3 or 4 days. I thought the preliminary hearing was to set a court date, but it seems I might be wrong. Hmm.  Any way if you can, let us know how it's going.  Thinking about you.

I am sorry you are feeling ill. It's hard enough going to court without that. I hope you feel better shortly.  I have been thinking about you whilst I was away, wondering how you were coping.  I am surprised they haven't come up with a date before October as that is not too far away. How long is the court hearing? Mine I think is over 3 days, which seems an awfully long time. Not sure what a judicial mediation is compared with ACAS mediation and what difference it might make.

I did enjoy my break, however, it didn't seem to help much with my depression and anxiety.  I was hoping it would, doesn't help that the company had still not paid my week in hand nor holiday pay and kept emailing me until I said I've had enough now just leave it and I will settle in court. Funnily enough, my mental health seemed to impact my physical health and finally, it dawned on me when I couldn't move my shoulders or neck that all these years with my aches and pains and so-called pinched back it isn't wear and tear, it's actually Psoriatic Arthritis. If it hadn't been for recent events putting so much stress on me then my symptoms would probably not have flared up so drastically and I would have continued to put it down to age. So I am going to go to the doctor to get the tests.

As for the preliminary hearing I have to fill some kind of form in. I just found it bizarre that they seem to have sent the ET1 to the respondents the same day they have also served them with court dates.  They must have been quite shocked to get those documents altogether without being able to reply with an E3 beforehand.

Any way you need a chat, I am here 24/7 especially since I no longer have a job. lol xxxxx


'

TG0601

@shellbell20Awww thank you so much. & same here. I’m on long term sick so lots of time on my hands. So sorry I haven’t replied until now. I can’t use my hands in a flare up as they swell the size of melons & are so painful. Typing is really difficult so I’ve had to wait until the swelling reduced a bit. I’m so pleased it you enjoyed your break. Just a shame you still suffer the effects of ill treatment. I do too. I think it will take a long time for both of us to get over the emotional & physical affects. My tribunal is booked over 5 days. I have my judicial mediation next week. My solicitor thinks it will probably be settled then, but I don’t. I was surprised that my solicitor told me yesterday that I can’t include injury to health in my schedule of losses. He’s just put injury to feelings on the schedule with the other bits. He said they don’t include it as you don’t get good sums for injury to health via tribunals & separate personal Injury claims are better. I called my union today to start a claim for injury to health. If however my employers want to settle & I  accept, they will probably put a caveat in it stating I will not be able to bring any other claims against them. So we’ll see. I’m just annoyed that I’ve only just been told I can’t claim injury to health in my schedule of losses. I could have had a personal injury claim well under way by now if I’d been told months ago. When I looked online though I found case law where injury to Health was awarded in a disability discrimination case & CAB website states a tribunal can award injury to health. So why it can’t be put in my schedule of losses is beyond me. There’s a direct link between physical & mental health. The both run side by side. So you need to note all this & also show how constant emailing you caused you added stress. I think judicial mediation has more sway than ACAS as its chaired by a tribunal judge & they try to resolve matters before getting to the main hearing xx

shellbell20

TG0601 said:

@shellbell20Awww thank you so much. & same here. I’m on long term sick so lots of time on my hands. So sorry I haven’t replied until now. I can’t use my hands in a flare up as they swell the size of melons & are so painful. Typing is really difficult so I’ve had to wait until the swelling reduced a bit. I’m so pleased it you enjoyed your break. Just a shame you still suffer the effects of ill treatment. I do too. I think it will take a long time for both of us to get over the emotional & physical affects. My tribunal is booked over 5 days. I have my judicial mediation next week. My solicitor thinks it will probably be settled then, but I don’t. I was surprised that my solicitor told me yesterday that I can’t include injury to health in my schedule of losses. He’s just put injury to feelings on the schedule with the other bits. He said they don’t include it as you don’t get good sums for injury to health via tribunals & separate personal Injury claims are better. I called my union today to start a claim for injury to health. If however my employers want to settle & I  accept, they will probably put a caveat in it stating I will not be able to bring any other claims against them. So we’ll see. I’m just annoyed that I’ve only just been told I can’t claim injury to health in my schedule of losses. I could have had a personal injury claim well under way by now if I’d been told months ago. When I looked online though I found case law where injury to Health was awarded in a disability discrimination case & CAB website states a tribunal can award injury to health. So why it can’t be put in my schedule of losses is beyond me. There’s a direct link between physical & mental health. The both run side by side. So you need to note all this & also show how constant emailing you caused you added stress. I think judicial mediation has more sway than ACAS as its chaired by a tribunal judge & they try to resolve matters before getting to the main hearing xx

I think it will probably be sorted in the judicial mediation. I have heard about injury to health before, and sometimes the company has to pay a lot if you can no longer work.  Sometimes they are made an example of. 

 I must admit my health has spiralled downhill since I left the job. First, they ignore my pleas for my week's notice, still not got it, even though a fellow worker who was sacked on the same day was paid within a couple of weeks of leaving. That person has become a close friend of mine and told me that when they left they were having panic attacks for weeks afterwards and didn't correlate it until one day they broke down and realised it was the way they had been treated. I might call them witnesses, but I am reluctant to get anyone involved as I don't want them worrying about the repercussions.

I then asked for a SAR or how to obtain one as one of the companies websites is very confusing. They ignored 2 of my emails until I said enough now. I emailed and said you have now ignored 2 emails from me, if I don't get this information shortly you will leave me with no alternative other than to report you to the judge and the IMO. They soon responded and now they are asking me for my id and why I want the information. Not sure I want to tell them why it's none of their business if I want disclosure about me.

Right now I am suffering from terrible headaches and stomach problems, I think it's all related. I really need to get to the doctors but with my depression, it's hard to reach out to anyone. I need to probably find out about benefits too, as I have no income but again I find it quite overwhelming. I have started doing what I do when I am anxious. I left my cats chicken on the stove until the fire alarm went off. I have been doing that too often as of late. I just totally forget, sometimes I set a timer so it alerts me and then 10 seconds later I have forgotten the alarm has gone off. Only happens when I am depressed or and anxious.

Anyway enough of me, must be awful when you cant type and you're in constant pain.  This will be over for you soon I hope, but I think you are right they might say you can't claim if you take their offer.  I doubt I will get a settlement out of court and if I did it would be a pathetic one. We have done no negotiating thus far, but I am really not sure I could even bear to talk with them at this point. I would rather as I am sure you would they didn't do it in the first place. We don't need the bullying the spitefulness when each day we wake up battling our ailments. I don't understand why some people can be so cruel and uncaring, I don't understand that mindset.

Hope you are resting and please let me know how the meeting goes! xxxx