Tesco Ireland has been ordered to pay €40,000 compensation to a former assistant at one of its Dublin outlets over its failure to provide her with reasonable accommodation after she developed a problem with her vision from an aneurysm.
The Workplace Relations Commission ruled that the supermarket group has breached the Employment Equality Act 1998 on grounds of disability.
The assistant, Karen Rice, who began working in Tesco’s branch in Ballyfermot in November 2007, claimed she was discriminatorily dismissed in October 2023 after requiring to go on sick leave in June 2020 when she developed a problem with her sight.
Ms Rice told the WRC that a report by an occupational health consultant hired by Tesco was inadequate as it did not address her absence from work in a material fashion and failed to evaluate how she could return to work with alternative working arrangements.
She claimed major elements of the report related to recommended adjustments to her personal life.
Ms Rice claimed the report provided no explanation of how she was prevented from carrying out her role “efficiently and effectively”.
Legal representatives for Tesco did not dispute that Ms Rice had a disability within the definition of the relevant legislation.
However, the company rejected the claim that it had discriminatorily dismissed her from her job for having a disability.
It stated the decision to terminate her contract of employment was based on medical evidence and followed an extensive support period where every effort had been made to establish if she could return to work in any capacity.
The WRC heard that Tesco concluded that Ms Rice, who was absent from work for 30 months at the time, was not fit to perform the dutiesassociated with any role in the supermarket.
WRC adjudication officer, Breiffni O’Neill, said Ms Rice had established a prima facie case of discrimination on grounds of disability on the basis of the letter of termination issued by Tesco in October 2023.
Mr O’Neill said the only evidence apart from a doctor’s report presented by Tesco to justify the dismissal was an analysis carried out by an executive with a training and consultancy firm.
The WRC official said the executive had not given evidence and there was no suggestion she was medically qualified.
He also noted that she had “inexplicably” concluded that there were “various complexities” to the condition of Ms Rice’s eye without reference to any medical report.
Mr O’Neill said the reference was “particularly extraordinary” given the report stated that it did not “offer medical advice”.
He observed that the analysis also made no reference to the complainant’s mental health issues which had been raised in the medical report.
The WRC official said Tesco had ignored the recommendation of their own doctor in 2021 that Ms Rice should be referred to a consultant ophthalmologist.
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Mr O’Neill said the company had never sought any further medical opinion on whether either her sight or mental health had improved to the extent that she would be able to return to work.
He said it was “utterly bizarre and disingenuous” that Tesco’s letter of termination stated that the company assumed the occupational health therapist’s medical opinion was not being disputed by Ms Rice when her report stated it did not offer medical advice.
The WRC ruled that Tesco had failed to rebut the allegation of discrimination and ordered the company to pay €40,000 compensation to the complainant.
Mr O’Neill said he had taken the extent of the discrimination, the impact it had on Ms Rice, the considerable period of discrimination and the fact that she was unlikely to find work again in determining the amount.
Sourse: breakingnews.ie
