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Sexual harassmentApprenticeshipsDisability discriminationDisabilityLatest News

Apprentice awarded £52,000 for victimisation and disability discrimination

by Jo Faragher 22 Dec 2023
by Jo Faragher 22 Dec 2023 People with dyscalculia have difficulty in understanding numbers and maths problems
Shutterstock
People with dyscalculia have difficulty in understanding numbers and maths problems
Shutterstock

An apprentice digital media executive has been awarded more than £52,000 for victimisation and discrimination because she has dyscalculia, meaning she struggles with maths.

Sophie Molyneux worked for Apprentify, a company that sources apprenticeships, and was asked to take a mock maths test two months before her compulsory exam.

Molyneux told the tribunal that she found this unfair due to her dyscalculia. She had not tried sitting a maths exam since her GCSEs some years before, and had an additional learning support plan that explained her specific needs.

At the time, she was receiving ongoing maths support from a functional skills tutor, who was preparing her for her final maths exam.

She took the mock test in June 2022 and failed, telling the tribunal that on reasonable adjustments were offered to reduce her disadvantage.

Disability discrimination

Autistic police officer wins discrimination claim 

Plumber awarded £134k for disability discrimination

Soon after the test, in July 2022, Molyneux reported allegations of sexual harassment, but a few weeks later was dismissed, with her failure in the maths exam cited as the reason. She had been due to complete her apprenticeship in September 2022.

The tribunal heard that in her view, she had been dismissed because she was seen as a “troublemaker” and due to her disabilities. She also had a history of anxiety and depression.

When deciding on compensation, the tribunal found that no proper disciplinary process was followed during her dismissal, and that she had been victimised for making a protected disclosure in the form of the sexual harassment allegations.

Employment Judge Rhodri McDonald said her dismissal was “significantly influenced” by her allegation of sexual harassment, and that “the impact of the dismissal was to completely undermine [her] self-confidence”.

Her claims for victimisation and disability discrimination were upheld, and she was awarded a total of £52,348 in damages, including £20,000 for injury to feelings.

 

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Jo Faragher

Jo Faragher has been an employment and business journalist for 20 years. She regularly contributes to Personnel Today and writes features for a number of national business and membership magazines. Jo is also the author of 'Good Work, Great Technology', published in 2022 by Clink Street Publishing, charting the relationship between effective workplace technology and productive and happy employees. She won the Willis Towers Watson HR journalist of the year award in 2015 and has been highly commended twice.

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