Company told to pay epileptic man €20k over discrimination

A TRANSPORT company has been ordered to pay a man with epilepsy €20,480 after finding that it discriminated against him when retiring him on medical grounds.

The Workplace Relations Commission made the award in spite of the company arguing that the man twice concealed his disability from his employer.

The firm argued: ‘When it suited him, he denied he had such a disability and now he wants to use his disability to force inappropriate financial compensation from the company.’

However, the WRC found that the man was dismissed from his employment for reasons connected with his capacity to perform the job due to his disability.

The man was employed as a gatekeeper by the company from November 4, 2004, to October 11, 2016.

The prescribed medication the man takes had controlled the symptoms of his condition to such a degree that he has not suffered an epileptic fit since 2001.

When he began employment, he did not declare that he had a preexisting disability.

In January 2015, the man was certified as unfit to work in connection with a health matter unrelated to his disability.

During that absence, he told the Company Medical Officer about his condition and the medication he was taking.

He was declared fit to resume work by his own medical practitioner.

However, he was not allowed to return by the company.

The CMO outlined the prohibition on people suffering from epilepsy.

An extensive trawl was conducted by the company to try and find a suitable alternative non-safety critical role.

This included an assessment for a clerical role for which the man did not reach the required standard.

The company stated that ultimately, in August 2016, when no position was found for him, the CMO took the decision to retire him on grounds of ill health.

The firm stated that the man was dealt with purely on his ability to carry out his role and on his ability to carry out alternative duties during the trawl to identify such duties.

The man argued that the decision to dismiss him fully meets the definition of victimisation.

The adjudication officer in the case, Gaye Cunningham, awarded the man €16,640 for being discriminated against on disability grounds and €3,840 under Minimum Notice legislation.