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Employee in Mental Health Bias gets €57,900

04-02-2005
Ireland

A landmark equality decision has broken new ground and will serve as a deterrent to discrimination against people with mental health problems, according to the Equality Authority. It is the first time that the Labour Court has upheld a claim of discrimination on the ground of disability when the disability was a mental illness. The case awarded €57,900 to an employee who was discriminated against when he tried to return to work after months receiving treatment in a psychiatric hospital.

The claimant was employed in a specialist capacity for over 14 years with his employer when in April 2002 he was admitted to hospital suffering from a psychiatric illness. He was discharged from hospital less than three months later and was advised by his psychiatrist that he could return to work, preferably on a phased basis. The employer did not allow the claimant to return to work. He was referred to a psychiatrist nominated by the employer and later to an occupational physician and was eventually allowed to return to work in October of the same year. He was given a job description and was told he could no longer deal with clients and that his work would be monitored.

The Court accepted that the claimant - who then resigned - felt he was not wanted. It granted €41,900 or one year's salary to cover economic loss in relation to discriminatory dismissal, 8,000 to compensate for the stress, anxiety and indignity of the discriminatory dismissal and to serve as a deterrent against future infractions and another 8,000 to compensate for the effects of discriminatory treatment. The Labour Court accepted that the employer was helpful to the employee when he first became ill, but concluded that the employer had a marked reluctance to accommodate the employee in returning to work. It did not accept that the employer gave any adequate consideration to providing the claimant with the type of special treatment which would have allowed him to resume work following his discharge from hospital, including helping him to work on a phased basis. It also found the employer discriminated against him in not allowing him to return to work between June and October 2002.

Niall Crowley, the Chief Executive of Equality Authority, which supported the man's action, noted that the Equality Act had recently been strengthened to oblige employers to make reasonable accommodation for employees with disabilities. Mr Crowley said that the scale of the award "breaks new ground and will serve as an important deterrent to discrimination against people with mental health problems. Significant stigma can all too readily accompany a diagnosis of mental illness. This leads to discrimination and exclusion." He said the support an employee receives at a time of such illness can be vital and can make the difference between remaining in employment or leaving and experiencing an exacerbation of the illness.