A profoundly deaf man has been awarded £50,000 damages after a judge ruled he was subjected to a “character assassination” by hostile jobcentre officials, who refused to provide him with specialist help to find work.
Paul Rimmer, who communicates primarily though British Sign Language (BSL) and has limited reading and writing skills, suffered from “oppressive” and unlawful behaviour at the hands of Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) staff, Judge Joanna Wade found at the employment tribunal.
The judge described as “groundhog day” a six-year pattern of mistreatment by officials who repeatedly discriminated against Rimmer by failing to provide him with BSL interpreters or access to video calls.
She found that Leeds Park Place jobcentre – the largest in the north of England – had been consistently “blind” to Rimmer’s needs as a deaf claimant. She criticised staff behaviour that led him to justifiably feel he “had to constantly fight for things other people take for granted”.
In a statement Rimmer welcomed the ruling: “I still feel a bit angry about the wasted years but I’m pleased that the truth has finally come out. I have been telling the DWP about the difficulties I have faced for years and finally someone has believed me.”
He added: “I am proud of what I have achieved and hope that it helps other people as well as myself. I know that the same thing happens at other jobcentres and I hope things will change more widely. I hope it doesn’t just change at Leeds but that the DWP look more widely at the training of staff across the country.”
There is increasing scrutiny of the DWP’s treatment of chronically ill and disabled claimants. On Wednesday Britain’s human rights watchdog launched a formal investigation over whether the DWP breached equality laws over its management of disability benefit assessments.
During the employment tribunal Wade highlighted internal emails in which a Park Place disability employment adviser denigrated Rimmer and actively tried to block his request to be referred to an intensive work support programme. Instead, he suggested Rimmer be “treated firmly” and threatened with sanctions (removal of benefits).
Although he had not met him and knew little of his background, the official advised colleagues that Rimmer’s deafness was not a significant barrier to work and suggested his complaints about lack of deaf-friendly support were a way of trying to wilfully “sabotage” efforts to help him find a job.
Wade described the email as “an assassination of [Rimmer’s] character”. It was, she said, “victimising”, “oppressive” and an unlawful breach of the Equality Act – conduct she suggested was surprising from an adviser one might have expected to have better understood the challenges faced by disabled claimants.
She said the official’s email would discourage vulnerable people from making legitimate complaints, adding: “This is the sort of email or conduct which anyone in receipt of services from a jobcentre would fear, that if job coaches or others are challenged, there will be reprisals.”
Nick Whittingham, the chief executive at Kirklees Citizens Advice and Law Centre, which advised Rimmer, said the tribunal’s ruling was a sign of systemic DWP failings. “This case shines a light on the way that disabled benefits claimants are treated by the DWP, and is particularly important in light of current political rhetoric,” he said.
The government last month unveiled proposals to cut benefits for 420,000 sick and disabled people in an attempt to force them into work. Ministers have insisted disabled claimants will be able to rely on specialist jobcentre support services to maximise the chances of them getting a job.
Although DWP staff considered Rimmer’s behaviour to be rude and difficult at times, the judge said the persistent failure to provide him with specialist support – particularly at a time when nationally the DWP was boasting of rolling out accessibility services for deaf claimants – had left him understandably frustrated.
The judge said in her ruling, made earlier this month, that it was “surprising” that the DWP had not apologised at any stage to Rimmer. She recommended Park Place work coaches be given disability awareness training. The DWP declined to comment on whether it had since apologised.
A DWP spokesperson said: “We are considering this judgment. We are committed to providing accessible services. Most people claiming health and disability benefits report having a positive experience, and where customers need assistance, we endeavour to make reasonable adjustments to meet their individual needs.”
