On day she heard she may never walk, bomb victim was made redundant
LYING in hospital paralysed by a bomb blast and with shrapnel embedded in her pain-racked body was a traumatic enough experience for Julie Thomas.
But the 34-year-old was dealt another cruel blow just two days after being blown up at the Manchester Arena – when her bosses asked if she knew when she would be back at work.
And earlier this month, on the very day doctors told conveyancing executive Julie she may never walk again because of her injuries, Dickinson Parker Hill solicitors said her job was being made redundant – despite her being signed off sick until October.
Julie, who is now confined to a wheelchair and still relives the horror of May’s Manchester attack that killed 22 and left up to 250 injured, said: “I was in tears.
“It was the trauma of what the doctor said along with this message, which was effectively sacking me.
“None of this was my fault. I just went to a concert with a friend to enjoy myself.”
Julie, who had three operations to remove bolts and shrapnel, said she felt she had no choice but to resign and left this month.
She is bringing a constructive dismissal and discrimination case against the firm for bullying and harassment.
After the attack, as she lay disorientated in Manchester Royal Infirmary, Julie at first received sympathetic text messages and emails from her office – but they also asked when she would return.
Nine days after twisted Salman Abedi blew up his suicide bomb outside the Ariana Grande concert, bosses were texting to ask if she could talk about work. She had just had her third operation. Julie said the final straw came earlier this month when she was told “effectively your position has been made redundant”, with an offer to pay up her four weeks’ notice.
In the letter dated September 6, she was told her position could not be kept open “into the long term” and that, in the firm’s belief and in accordance with their policy, six months was sufficient sick leave.
Julie, of Liverpool, was told that if she did come back, their building in Ormskirk, Lancashire, would cause problems for her, leaving her with the option of a downstairs office “and a kettle”. The nearest disabled toilet is in a nearby pub.
Julie told how she felt she had been “hounded” by the company.