Tribunal orders BPP to pay disabled former law lecturer £168k – 11 March 2021

Tribunal orders BPP to pay disabled former law lecturer £168k

Further to our previous ‘NEWSFLASH’ setting out the increase in Tribunal awards, we would like to draw your attention to a recent judgment which acts as a stark reminder for employers to act in a fair way to all employees.

A BPP University law lecturer resigned in 2019 after being employed at BPP University for over ten years. She suffered from autistic spectrum disorder, anxiety and depression. The Tribunal considered a number of allegations regarding the University’s treatment of the lecturer, namely that a colleague had called her “mad as a box of frogs”, the University failed to refer her to Occupational Health, the lecturer was working up to 60 hours per week including at weekends and evenings and the University failed to reduce her workload or provide her with extra support, and following a complaint made, the University would not allow the lecturer to see the complaint or defend herself – amounting to unfavourable treatment.

After her resignation, the lecturer found another job within three months but appeared to remain unwell up to the hearing in 2020. The Tribunal judge found that the discriminatory conduct was an ‘integral part’ of the fundamental breach of trust and confidence breach which led to her resignation and made an award of £168,000 for direct disability discrimination and constructive unfair dismissal. This amount was made up of awards of £71,000 compensation for future financial losses, £32,000 for past financial losses and £20,000 for injury to feeling.

If you would like further advice on any of the points mentioned in this document and would like to discuss this with our qualified employment team then please contact us on 0330 088 2275 or employment@fta-law.com for more information.