Disabled Woman, Sacked After Stroke, Wins £20,000 Compensation

Twenty-two year old Hayley Tudor has won £20,000 damages against a former employer who had
sacked her after she had a stroke and became blind. The case was supported by the DRC, Action for
Blind People and Trafford Law Centre. Hayley was dismissed from her job as an animal nursing
assistant after she had a stroke in May 2005. She lost her sight as a result of her stroke. In July,
Hayley phoned her employers to say she was out of hospital and could resume work only to be told
she had already been sacked. Her former employer had made an assumption without seeking any
advice, that there was no point in even trying to continue to employ Hayley after her stroke.
However, considering her job mainly consisted of receptionist duties, it would have been easy to make some reasonable adjustments for her. Bert Massie, DRC Chairman, welcomed the legal
judgment: “This was a very clear case of direct discrimination because Hayley’s employer made
assumptions about her ability to carry out the job after she became disabled. Her employer also did
not consider any reasonable adjustments to enable her to remain in employment. It is one of the
first cases where the tribunal has had to consider direct discrimination and sets a standard for
ensuring disabled people have equal rights in employment.”

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