A receptionist who suffered from painful hands and wrists has won £35,000 - after she was made to pick up a card payment machine 100 times a day. Barbra Hall - who had carpal tunnel syndrome - was left in severe pain due to the frustrating ergonomic design of the desk at the children's soft play centre she worked at.
The layout of the desk - which was 'designed like a boat' - meant she had to constantly reach down to a lower counter to pick up the card payment machine when customers arrived. Mrs Hall repeatedly complained about the nautical-themed desk's layout and the pain it caused her wrists and hands but nothing was done, an employment tribunal heard.
Two years after she joined, an Occupational Health assessment was eventually carried out and advised fixing the machine to a cradle as well as other recommendations but still bosses didn't take action. Mrs Hall was signed off work sick from Let's Explore in Horley, Surrey, and has now successfully sued the soft play area for disability discrimination, winning £34,145 in compensation.
The London South employment tribunal heard she 'soldiered on' despite the pain because she loved her job and needed the money as her husband had poor health. Mrs Hall joined the soft play area in October 2017, having previously had double hand surgery for her carpal tunnel syndrome [CTS] - a condition which causes severe pain in hands, fingers and wrists.
The tribunal heard she raised several 'ergonomic concerns' about the boat desk and that other colleagues complained too. A tribunal report said: "[The complaints were] in relation to the counter of the desk being too low, on which the monitor sat, and the till sitting in an even lower position.
"In addition, Mrs Hall complained about the PDQ machine [used to take card payments] was not fixed in a cradle and thus she was required to pick it up and process the payments by handing it to the customer and then collecting it from them for each transaction."
She had to pick up the machine up to 100 times a day and had issues with cramped desk space. Mrs Hall said she and others complained about the desk to manager Hayley Gardner, general manager Stuart Duncan and operational manager Ben Stephenson.
She had to provide a doctor's letter to confirm her decision and pushed for a risk assessment but it didn't factor in her condition. In October 2019 an Occupation Health assessment highlighted areas of concern including the card machine the lack of desk space, the cordless phone and a scanner.
But, the recommendations were never implemented and Mrs Hall went on sick leave and was later made redundant during the Covid-19 pandemic. She won her claim of failure to make reasonable adjustments due to a disability.
Employment Judge Omar Khalil said: "The tribunal concluded that... using those devices manually and repetitively for payment and scanning respectively, did substantially disadvantage her because of her CTS as the repetitive nature of those tasks caused her pain and discomfort.
"The tribunal further concluded that the use of the card machine could have been adjusted by being located/fixed in a secure cradle and in relation to the phone, a headset device could have been provided to free up use of both hands. There was no evidence before the Tribunal to suggest these adjustments could not be done or why this could not be done. They were reasonable adjustments."
