The Palace of Westminster
(Picture: PA Archive)House of Commons managers discriminated against a disabled employee after she “politely” placed a note on her desk asking it not to be used by others, a tribunal has ruled.
The House of Commons Commission victimised employee Alison Baker by initiating a disciplinary hearing after she asked colleagues not to use her desk because it was specifically set up for her disability, the tribunal found.
The body is responsible for the administration of the House of Commons and the maintenance of the Parliamentary estate.
In a judgement published Tuesday, employment judges said that managers at the commission failed to make a reasonable adjustment in preventing Ms Baker’s desk being used by others in September 2018 during a short absence.
The tribunal ruled that while keeping the desk reserved was not reasonable in the long-term, it was reasonable in the short term “given that the Claimant would have had to readjust her equipment each time it was altered.”
It said that after Ms Baker placed the note on her desk, managers emailed her informing of disciplinary proceedings, when she was already subject to a first written warning, citing the note as among the reasons why.
The Central London tribunal ruled the Collections Manager at the Palace of Westminster “would reasonably have considered that her continued employment was potentially prejudiced.
“She would reasonably have felt worried and threatened by the commencement of disciplinary action.”
It said that the disciplinary action was a “heavy-handed and punitive response to the Claimant’s note”.
However, a string of other sex and disability discrimination and harassment claims were rejected by employment judges.
Among these were a claim that bosses subjected Ms Baker, who has worked on the estate for more than three decades, to sex and disability discrimination by temporarily requiring her to process five to seven CDs a day.
Ms Baker had claimed her disability meant she was unable to do repetitive tasks - but the tribunal found she was “refusing to do the work, rather than she was unable to”.
A separate claim that a line manager discriminated against her by requiring her to fill out her working times on a weekly schedule was also rejected.
The tribunal found the claimant’s time management was supervised because at the time, “she, uniquely amongst employees, had not been producing work. This was the only reason”.
A remedy hearing is set to take place at a later date.
A House of Commons spokesperson said: “The House of Commons strives to be an inclusive and supportive workplace, and is committed to ensuring that all staff are supported in their roles. We are unable to comment on individual staffing matters.”
