A women who told an employment tribunal she could barely walk 100m had her claim thrown out - after photos of her on a bouncy castle came to light.
Uche Pearson, who was employed as a support worker, told managers she struggled to do basic tasks because of her condition and couldn't perform certain jobs or sleep on shift.
She also complained that pain in her eye from being hit with a snowball "was so severe it was wrecking her life".
However, a tribunal ruled that she "exaggerated the severity of her impairments", Teesside Live reports.
The summary stated: "At best the impairments (spine and eye) are no more than minor or trivial.
"At worst the claimant's evidence, even if she was in pain, in the view of the Tribunal, was calculated to try to build up her case following termination of her employment, to try and collect evidence and exaggerate her symptoms."
She was hit by the "hard moulded snowball" in January 2021, weeks before her contract was terminated by Voyage 1 Limited - a care provider.
She visited a South Tees Hospitals site where she was diagnosed with corneal abrasion.
Multiple NHS visits followed, including one to see a GP at Eaglescliffe Medical Centre. The claimant said she was in pain and "struggling to sleep".
While she disputed it at the hearing, it was claimed the woman told NHS staff that she'd felt "disfigured from the blunt trauma of the snowball."
After months of NHS appointments, with CT scans carried out, a surgeon wrote that she likely had "soft tissue and possibly nerve injury" but that with little in the way of surgical treatment, she'd likely be discharged.
Her back issues stemmed back to 2020. However, last June, a North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust doctor told her that her symptoms were "disproportionate" to the injuries she received.
"The claimant challenged this opinion by writing on it and in her evidence stating that Dr Aslam did not understand her injury and she insisted her symptoms existed and were not exaggerated."
However subsequent MRI scans couldn't detect the cause of the pain, with the trust's Consultant Radiologist and Clinical Director of Radiology stating she'd be better off with physiotherapy than surgery.
Bosses had agreed steps, including not having to lift heavy goods or hoover. She told management that while she could do long days, she couldn't sleep on shift.
However a picture was presented of her on the bouncy castle. While she accepted it was her, she claimed she was "there to steady the other person in there."
"She conceded that the activity of being in the bouncy castle was not very wise," adds the summary.
And in a critical summary, the panel threw out the woman's claim of direct discrimination over disability.
"The claimant is someone who has even felt it appropriate to criticise the findings of medical professionals, even though she has no medical qualifications to do so, has called no challenging expert evidence and her conduct, for example, taking on tasks at work, including very long days, was inconsistent with there being substantial impairments and they show the true light of her position," it stated.
