Hi, I have an employment tribunal hearing on Monday. I worked with respondent for 4.5 years. resigned because of 4.5 years of harassment, bullying, race discrimination. Faced numerous ageist comments from one of employees during first year. Denied promotion opportunities, put through capability assessment in 2015 which lasted for 7-8 months despite GP advise against it. It affected my mental and physical health a lot. Denied smallest of 'work from home' request when contractors and some of permanent employees could use it at will and sometimes for 3 months. They say contractors are allowed to work from home. Put contractors in management position and one of them threatened to put me on capability again in 2017. There is lot more. salary differences for same position, giving minimum 1.9% increment for 2 years and no increment during year when i was put on capability. Senior managers talking openly that why he doesn't go away! when i was seating 6 feet away. Very humiliating. I can't prove any of these. I don't feel I have much of a case. But I wanted to raise it. I HAVE TO! I went through preliminary hearing today. I am representing myself. And respondent has legal counsel on payroll with whom I had been interacting till now. But today I saw that they hired external solicitor. I had just one page ET1 with points as bullet points without much details. Which a very friendly judge in August helped me to elaborate further during PH. But it is still very basic and I used same document to prepare witness statement by modifying bit. I went through CBT in 2015, psychiatric counselling this year after leaving job, and again planned in near future. On antidepressants. I am claiming six months of salary and pension which I lost while being unemployed. I have found equal salary job and going back to all this is really stressful. Can someone please give some highlights of how to go about in hearing. Today's judge was absolute opposite and all of my requests for extra documents. Disclosure has been absolutely biased and nothing that helps me. He was stressing repeatedly that I should prepare for hearing and not focus on peripherals. I was late in requesting modification to disclosure as new job in demanding and i am still on probation. What points i should focus on . What are DOs and DON'Ts. Please help.

Hi I'm just wondering if anyone has ever been to County court with a service provider as they have gone against the Equality Act 2010. I'm just about to send 'letter before action' Thanks

Hi all, I was dismissed by my employer for misuse of a corporate credit card. I had used it to help with cash flow for moving expenses since my employer wanted me to relocate and the costs were having a drain on my finances. At the same time I was going through a stressful time at home with the break-up of my marriage. When I used the card I didn't realise it was considered personal use, since in my mind I was moving for work, and I was eventually dismissed for it. I've been seeing my GP for over a year with stress and anxiety and I think my decision to use the card was clouded by my mental health issues and inhibited decision making. My GP has diagnosed me with an anxiety disorder. I've submitted my ET1 claim form for discrimination due to disability - mental health. I had disclosed to my employer several times the impact the move and the finances were having on me and they took no note and made no reasonable adjustments. The employer has hired a solicitor and they have submitted their ET3 defence and have asked the preliminary hearing is postponed and re-listed from a Case Management hearing to an Open Preliminary Hearing. They deny that I was a disabled person within the meaning of section 6 of the Equality Act at the time of alleged discriminatory treatment. They want the hearing to consider the issue of whether I am a disabled person within the meaning of section 6 of the Equality Act at the time of alleged discriminatory treatment. They also request the Tribunal make the following orders in advance of the Open Preliminary Hearing: · Claimant to provide an impact statement · Claimant to provide copies of his medical records · Respondent to confirm whether a Join Medical Expert report is required I need to firm up my argument that I am disabled under the meaning of section 6 of the Equality Act. My GP has diagnosed an anxiety disorder, but I am wondering what else I need to prepare for the examination by the respondents solicitor. I can provide examples of the everyday activities that are impaired and have a diary of these event going back many months. Also can someone tell me what the impact statement is I will be ordered to prepare? I tried to get a solicitor but can't afford one, so have to represent myself. Thanks for your help.

my grnaddaughter was to do work experiace at a doctors surgery but her placement there was refused by her school becuse she is white and they had decided that all such placements would only be available to black pupils. Now the law states that you cant discriminate against any ethnic group but then there is a get out that syas if a particular characteristic or group is under represented you can discriminate. As she wants to be a doctor and has the brains to pass her exams this placement would have been ideal and necessary to get into med school (try applying without such experience and soo how far you get). Also white poeple are under represented in the NHS as doctors so what basis could the school or surgery claim under representation of black potential students? When she told the school she thought their approach was unfair and discrimintory they phoned my daughter and accused her (granddaughter) of being rascist for challenging their decision. How would you progress a complaint is what advce I seek.

I received a written warning at work without any hearing or evidence or disciplinary meeting... just the warning based on what some colleagues said. I raised a grievance as I felt this warning discriminated against me as I work in an all male team, I felt the complaint wouldn't have been raised if I was a male on the team. I also feel that the process would have been dealt with differently if I was a male on the team. They then dismissed me 2 weeks later after I submitted my written grievance. I'm trying to get an understanding of whether disciplinary action can actually be discriminatory or not? I've already put my claim into the tribunal.

My contract states that I will not receive any money in exchange for any hours worked over my contracted hours, except at the Company's discretion from time to time. Over the summer, I worked as an engineer/manager on-site, alongside 30 other employees (labourers) who all raked in approximately 15 hours a week of overtime paid at x1.5 their normal rate. I counted up all the hours we did and calculated that, had I been paid overtime at a x1.5 rate too, my employer would have paid me £4,000 in the span of those 4 months. I don't think there is a law that will require my employer to reimburse me for that overtime worked, but does anyone know if there is any case here given the fact that 30 guys on-site got paid for working those hours and I was the only one that didn't? I realise we held different positions but is there a case for discrimination?

Hi, New to the forum, so please be gentle - I'm not in a good place at the moment. It has taken me days to pluck the courage to seek help on this. This is a little long, but I'll do my best to be brief. Started new job role in September 2016, after being made redundant from a role I loved. In the December 2016 I started experiencing increased anxiety and OCD issues, visited GP and was placed on a waiting list for a mental health referral. After a telephone consultation with Mental Health Unit I was deemed low risk - I work, wash myself and generally 'function' like a normal person. March/April 2016, issue became more severe and spent two days off work speaking to Samaritans. Visited different GP who immediately referred me to local mental health unit as a high risk patient. I have been under that unit since then with weekly appointments. Wr agreed weekly appointments as they discovered through treatment that working was an important part of my character and anything that could jeopardize this would have detrimental affect on fragile mental state. It is fair to say that the Unit have never experienced any like myself as they're not used to what they describe as a 'high function' mental health patient; that is I work and look 'normal' but behind the scenes fall apart. I did have a diagnoses of bipolar disorder over 20 years ago, but this was different. Have now been diagnosed with OCD and anxiety so severe I'm classed as disabled under the Equalities Act. Upon returning to work, during my return to work I explained everything with a line manager. And we agreed that I could have the weekly appointments, so long as the time was paid back and it caused little disruption. Everything has gone well until recently. In December 2016 HR became involved due to absence levels affecting the 'Bradford Score' making it really high. HR got involved and had a medical report from my psychologist, explained I am disabled and work need to make necessary adjustments. These adjustments are more around office temperature and asking people not to spray perfumes on the office floor - I work in a call centre. And, to issue a parking pass to reduce anxiety levels. Work is so hot that I sweat, it causes and OCD reaction and I often go home at lunch for a shower and fresh set of clothing, for example. I've had no occupational health referral. I still have to email daily to get the heating turned down - from 23/24 degrees at my desk. One aspect of my role I cannot do due to my OCD is ask customers to complete a survey to get feedback as the feedback will be about me. HR and myself have spoken about this and they were going to request another medical report to support this. However, this hasn't happened due to line manager leaving and HR wanting to wait for new manager. Not doing surveys has lost me an annual bonus and payrise. Doing them causes distress and self-harm. Also, they advertised for the line manager for my team, I have applied. They are announcing who has the role. I haven't even been told if I had an interview or not, as my application shows as pending. Everyone else has been told this. I even know who has the role. Last week, I had what I describe as a 'turn', after several days of having emails ignored asking for the heating to be turned down to it actually being increased last Thursday, I lost it. During afternoon break during a strip wash - I do this very break - I had heat rash all over my chest and my face was bright red due to the heat. I emailed HR and the management demanding they turn the heating down as it was torture for me in work - I actually used that word too. Friday I called in sick and was thinking of self-certifying for the week. I'm seeing my psychologist this week. I really dread the thought of going back in, but I'm also scared of the consequences my bradford score is off the charts. Any help or advice would be greatly received. Please. And, thank you reading this long post.

Hi everybody. I'm a new user to [edited] but after plenty of mistreatment and unfair bosses surrounding me in the past I decided to join up. In he past I have spoken about issues in previous jobs to Acas but to no avail. I now have issues in my current job. The issues are varied, most directly affect me but one doesn't. To begin, I shall introduce the setting. I am currently away for 8 weeks (currently in week 3) in Norway for my job (I'm a stocktaker). There are 5 teams of 10 people out here - my current team has 9 people from one district (that all work together back home) plus me. I have complaints concerning bullying/potential harassment (not against me), Favouritism/potential discrimination (against me), dangerous/illegal driving (we have company drivers to take us to jobs) and changing hours worked. I have raised these concerns in a complaint email to my district manager. He in turn, forwarded that to the other 9 people's district manager and the person in charge of us out in Norway. Since Then, I have been called by my DM asking "if you're uncomfortable out there we can look at bringing you back" - I responded and told him I wasn't and won't be uncomfortable, to which he replied "we need to look at it from their (the other 9's) perspective though". He the proceeded to tell me that an Area Manager will be visiting to investigate my allegations - all of this sounds good but I'm not sure the AM is coming to investigate my claims but rather my stance on being sent home prematurely. To give a bit more detail to my allegations/complaints; The supervisor for our team edits our Timesheet. If I work 5 hours I should be paid for 5 hours, however, sometimes I might get only 4 hours 40 minutes pay and other days 5 hours 10 minutes pay. He will also make us work for over 6 hours, not give us a break and then add an imaginary 20 minute break to the time sheet after the job to coincide with employment laws. The supervisor is also one of the 2 drivers for the team. He will regularly break 100kmph in a 60kmph zone. The roads in Norway in places are small enough for one vehicle, on the edge of a cliff/fjord, very little street lighting unless near towns and there are often animals (deer, moose etc) on the road. This is obviously extremely dangerous and illegal... he was told, however, that's if he accumulates speeding fines it is difficult for the Norwegian government to chase him for it as it's an English vehicle. He also regularly struggles to keep his eyes open while driving due to over-tiredness (not necessarily his fault). The bullying/harassment seems to be the only thing they have taken seriously (at least a little). The victim was too scared to speak up initially for fear of having no backup, however, since I've spoken with him he spoke up and complained. The DM for the other 9 had "a word" with one of the bullies and told him that I and the victim had spoken up - is the DM in his rights to name us like that? The reason I have come here seeking advice is because I am worried that my complaint is going to backfire on me. The timesheet editing and driving is illegal - it should be dealt with properly but it sounds like the solution was a quick phone call to the supervisor in question to tell him to behave around 'me'. I've noticed since the phone call that he tries to avoid letting me drive in his vehicle rather than slowing down and tries to avoid doing anything with the timesheet until he is alone. The bullying/harassment was dealt with in a similar manner but seems to have been effective, they are no longer harassing him, albeit with a bit of backlash onto me (which I can handle). I feel like there is a lot of favouritism (not sure if i can class as discrimination) against me from the supervisor because I'm from a different district. We are stocktakers and we are scored on the amount we count every hour (pph) - this is easily calculated as 'overall pieces counted ÷ overall time worked'. I have been told by the supervisor that he doesn't want me on top (highest pph) but he wants his district on top. Therefore I get the worst areas, hardest areas, slowest areas and low pph. When the higher ups (DM, AM, Head Office etc) see this it will affect my standing within the company as they will see me as an 'underperformer'. I know a lot of discrimination is on the grounds of Gender, Race and Age but would my situation still be classed as discrimination? I do not think they will fire me, however, it is likely they will try to send me home early for this - I ended my tenancy prior to coming out and an early departure would leave me homeless, I would also lose out on £1000s. I know that this would be completely unfair to me, but would it be illegal? If so, how can I act towards it? I have emails stating I would be here until October so if I'm sent home early would that be considered a broken contract? I also just signed a code of conduct, which obviously doesn't state I will be sent home if I complain. If it helps, I am working in Norway but I'm employed in England (I am paid an English wage). I am grateful for any forthcoming help and I appreciate the time taken to read this. Kind Regards, Crow.

Dear all, I unfortunately suffer from chronic depressive illness and have done so for many years with the condition significantly worsening over the past few years. In the year 2011 I had been subject to police investigation. I attended a police interview on a voluntary basis. Due to my debilitating depression I had an appropriate adult also attend this interview who I understand was a social worker at that time. The social worker, without my explicit consent, went on to record the details of the alleged criminal charges I faced on the NHS Trust’s IT system and within my electronic patient records. This information is categorised as highly sensitive information as defined under section 2 (h) of the Data Protection Act and the Trust seemingly recorded this information unlawfully. Their response however is that the processing of this information was 'necessary for medical purposes'. The criminal matter has been long since disposed of in my favour however the Trust are continuously processing this information wherever and whenever possible. I am not clear on whether or not explicit consent was needed here. It seems to me it was. I should be most grateful for any input.

If a pub bars a person for making calls to the police and threatening suicide - would it be indirect discrimination to ban them (disability/mental health is a protective characteristic) Or could pub argue the fella was drunk and they were banning him for that. Would a ban for such an incident be disproprtionate?

Hi, I am with a work program provider Ingeus who asked me to apply for a job with a local agency, this job was an immediate start and the induction was to commence within the week. A member of staff with Ingeus took my details and then said as we want a cross section may I ask your age please ? 2 weeks later I have heard nothing, I have mentioned it but they just brush aside saying they never took anyone on which I find strange. How would I go finding out if indeed my age was a factor, is asking the question about my age discrimination regardless and if so who do I take my complaint to. Any help advice appreciated.

Hi all, I am considering starting an action against the DWP/Jobcentre in a County Court. A brief synopsis is as follows: I claim Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) and am in the Work-Related Activity Group (WRAG). I am required to take part in a "work-related interview" every six months. At my last "interview" my work coach offered to conduct the "work-related interview" over the phone instead of in person. However, when I asked the Jobcentre staff to fulfil this offer recently they simply refused. I asked for the Jobcentre to make a reasonable adjustment in this respect due to the fact that I suffer from various health problems and getting to the Jobcentre is unreasonably difficult for me. This was denied. Is this a matter for a County Court that needs to be issued against the DWP or is it a Employment Tribunal matter because the Jobcentre could be described as an "employment service" for the purposes of the Equality Act 2010: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/section/56 If this does go to a County Court what are the chances I will have to pay the other side's legal costs? I suspect the DWP/Jobcentre will aggressively defend this. Many thanks in advance.

Hi, I am currently on ESA Support Group and also have an award for DLA which doesn't technically need to be renewed until over five years from now. I have the right to buy and could buy my current home for about 35k. I have some savings and may also be able to borrow some money from relatives to add to my deposit. I cannot find a single lender that's willing to lend me any money toward this on a secured basis whatsoever. Iroonically they all seem to be falling over themselves to lend me money on credit cards on an unsecured basis but not enough to buy the property. It seems to me they're basing this refusal to lend on their 'affordability criteria', ie- that this lending is un-affordable because I'm not in receipt of any income from paid employment. I find this utterly laughable because at current rates the mortgage would cost about £100/month and could be fixed for between five and ten years.... Also that the mortgage interest would be paid by the DWP under SMI anyway. I suspect this is indirect discrimination, in that they are applying this rule to all applicants and it's indirectly discriminating against disabled people who are much less likely to have income from work owing to the disabilities that they have. I just wondered if anyone here could indicate as to the likelihood of this being deemed indirect discrimination under the Equality Act if it were taken to court and any recent judgements that may be relevant, case law etc?

This morning the dreaded brown envelope arrived on the door mat inviting me to begin the process of converting from DLA to PIP. Long time users of the forum may remember the fun and games involved in converting my IB to ESA, so will guess that I'm less than ecstatic about this, but I knew this day would arrive eventually and so have prepared as thoroughly as I can. Step 1 is make the actual claim. DWP know, or should know, that I don't do phones and have known this for at least 10 years, so I'm less than happy to get a letter demanding that I phone them though obviously realising it's a standard letter and an organisation as big as DWP can't possibly be expected to avoid deliberately upsetting claimants by asking the impossible. On top of that, I'm told very firmly that I must claim as soon as possible and certainly within 4 weeks. Since the letter has taken a week to get here, that's already reduced to 3 weeks, so I bite the bullet and decide it's going to be dealt with straight away. Carer phones the number on the letter and after countless repetitions of 'find the answer to your query online' and 'you could call back later' finally gets to speak to an actual human being. Now, both carer and I appreciate that the people answering the phones don't necessarily have that much training in the specific benefit that they're dealing with, but the service we received to day was totally appalling, particularly since this is the dedicated PIP helpline. First, the phone person insisted 4 times that he had to speak to me and only gave up when carer asked what he thought 'can't make or receive telephone calls' actually means and was he suggesting we were making this up. Then he had to go and ask someone else what he had to do. After another long pause, he advised we have to write in to ask for a paper form, he can't ask for it on our behalf and we can't phone anyone to ask for it. Since we know from experience that getting a response from DWP to an actual letter is likely to take weeks if it happens at all, this was not an acceptable solution given the tight time limits already in place. After some arguing, we were passed to a manager. Again, after an enormous amount of arguing and another query as to what they think 'can't make or receive telephone calls' means, my carer faked me saying 'yes' so they would agree to post a form to us immediately. The explanation for their refusal to do this otherwise was on grounds of data protection, which is of course total b******s. How could they possibly breach data protection by sending a form to a claimant's address? Even if the claimant hadn't asked for it and didn't want it, all they would have to do is not fill it in! Also, this particular benefit was set up as a phone only benefit, so there's nothing in place for claims to be made any other way. Again, b******s because paper forms are available (though not downloadable because they have to have your name and NI number printed on them), and my previous research led me to believe a simple phone request for the form was sufficient, and even if it's true, it shouldn't be. There must be plenty of disabled people who cannot use a phone for some reason, so making a disability benefit only claimable by phone can only be designed to exclude a proportion of potential claimants. Not surprisingly, I am absolutely fuming. Can you imagine what would happen if your bank suddenly decided they would only offer telephone banking and if you couldn't do that, tough - you have to write in every time you want to do anything? So why should DWP be able to get away with this? On top of that, I didn't know until afterward that the first person my carer spoke to automatically assumed that if I can't do phones, I need an appointee - how insulting when for all he knew it was because I'm physically unable to speak? Does being unable to use a phone automatically mean you're incompetent to deal with your own affairs? I so want to take them on over this, perhaps starting with a few disability forums of which I'm a member, and my MP. I'd also like to try a formal complaint, though from experience it will get absolutely nowhere. Any other suggestions folks?

My daughter came home from work yesterday in a pretty bad mood, what had upset her was her line manager telling her she had to stay at her computer/desk other than at lunch time. What annoyed my daughter is that the 'smokers' are allowed a 15 minute break morning and afternoon but non smokers are not allowed this break and must not leave their desks...she said she has even thought of taking up smoking so she can have a break! Is this discrimination and is there anything she can do...other than find another job( which she is doing) Plus do not workers who's primary work is on computers allowed a break ever hour or so?

Hello, I'm new to the forum and would like advice and / or to hear from anyone else who has gone through similar to myself, or even legal help/advice. I have been suffering sex discrimination in the form of harassment for quite some time now, its been protracted but constant over the last 3 years since I became a part time worker in a team of all male colleagues. I work in male dominated environment of construction and as the only female , part time worker in the team I feel harassed and victimised. Now, the harassment and discrimination does not come from my male counterparts but from a female Manager who has over the last year outcast me and been generally hostile towards me. She states in public and openly in team meetings 'my men' as in relation to the team and another quote of ''I have asked for more men" ( in terms of recruitment. She has glared at me to the point of making me feel extremely uncomfortable in a team meeting when she single me out for 'talking' whilst another Manager staged a presentation. I was not the only one talking, it was just an overspill of chat basically when there was a discussion with Manager on stage , she singled me out, she even rang my Manager to rebuke me for this 'talking' offence, none of my other 'male ' colleagues were reprimanded. I have been questioned for been 10 minutes late to a meeting when 3 other male colleagues have walked in after me and even later, again only I am reprimanded. I can not understand why I am singled out, again on this occasion my Manager stated she had requested that he pull me about this to the exclusion of all others. I also asked one of the male team members and confirmed , No, not a mention to him, he was even later than I was! I am now at a stage where her vendetta instigated a 'fact find' with alleged misuse of company time as the offence. The slightest minute I am not accountable for on the tracker on my vehicle she is on the case. My Manager told me he did not want to undertake this disciplinary but she was pressuring him to do it, he felt uncomfortable about it , he said , he was happy with my performance to date but his Manager was keen to pursue me and take this down the formal route. Now, my male colleagues , if any issues are raised about their performance are dealt with casually and a general chat, when it is me , everything escalates to been a formal issue. I went off on sick leave last October as the ongoing pressure of the fact find re-ignited depression and anxiety (I suffered post natal depression with both children), I have never been off sick regards this issue , the pressure and interrogation pushed me back into a depressive state, suffering panic attacks and insomnia from worry. I am still employed by the company. Just to add, I also had pregnancy discrimination against me in 2013 with my 2nd child for which I raised a grievance and it was upheld, this was against my former Manager who did not like the fact I got a flexible working arrangement after my first born, he did a risk assessment without me and said I was not fit to do my job as I was pregnant and my role was much too dangerous for a pregnant woman, despite in my previous pregnancy doing the same job right into my 3rd trimester. I have raised a grievance now against the Senior Manager , bringing to the forefront the comments , the male terminology constantly used in team meetings, the exclusion of all others in rebuking me about been late, the intimidating look for 'talking' . I might add, I did confront this Manager last year and she did apologise for calling the whole team 'men' , although she has still continued with this type of language and had made me feel humiliated and alienated from my team. I would welcome any input, do I have a good case here? I genuinely feel very aggrieved. They have just asked me if I will consider a settlement whilst I am still waiting for a result from the grievance meeting I attended last week. I sense they want to make this go away...and not make a decision on the grievance ? I'm very stressed and concerned, after all, I am losing my job here so I want to be compensated correctly. The amount mentioned was not even a years pay , thats not enough for the ordeal I have suffered, and with all the other associated heads of liability, loss of earnings, frozen pension, stigma of not been re-employable , personal injury etc.. I don't want to undersell myself and regret it later if I do not take this to a tribunal. Any help / thoughts etc.. are really appreciated , Thanks

Help desperatly needed, sorry this will be a long one. and I cant put in specific details. Hubby has a disability dx 5 years ago that is covered by the equality act, he has been employed by same company for 18 years, no more time off than any other employee and less than some! He was doing his job perfectly ok and the only adaption he has was that he worked a fixed shift, and the other 2 guys sorted out the other shifts between what they preferred. Earlier in the year the company literally decided they didn't want him to go to the new plant that was due to open and set about fabricating stuff to get rid of him. We know why they did this, they looked at him not doing overtime and assumed he would not manage longer hours but no one actually asked him. There is a huge difference with taking out rest time at weekends for overtime as it is to do extra hours and have more days off, infact the new shift system would be better for him! The first he knew of this was a letter into this consultant whom they had never contacted previously and would only take the word of their own company doctor. Hubby was contacted by consultant with his answers before sending them into the company, He asked to be sent the questions that had been asked and found it very carefully worded for the company to get the answers they required but what they were stating was not the truth either about him or the actual job. As this delayed geting the letter sent back from the consultant, OH was sent to site to " have a chat about this letter to consultant" onsite she did an assesment that was nothing to do with his job role and as not even onsite and took him off the job and was given a different job, then they went through managing employees with ongoing sickness procedures, Was sent to the company doctor with even more lies about the job role conclusion was that he was unable to do the job with a huge emphasis on not being able to climb all the ladders ( which is not required for the job ! ) He was dismissed on grounds capability to do his job, There was a huge emphasis in that meeting on him not being able to do the hours and they couldn't make any changes to the hours, even though he had never asked for any changes. He was told to apply for ill health pension he queried applying for pension as he was appealing the decision, told to apply. Then had the appeal hearing so the IHP is now on hold untill after the hearing, and the company are now saying the decision is undecided so they wanted to contact the company doctor and his consultant again with questions he complied as he said they first ones were engineered. The company have now delayed this for so long He agrees questions they then e mail back and change something else. Mainly slotting in the adjustment that they refused at the final stage meeting which they have no right to do so its all highlighted and sent back and then they return it with another change. I have 27 printed a4 pages just of the e mail communication about the questions, and its now not his questions being asked at all as they have changed them and the bigest blow is the letter to the consultant is almost exactly the same as the first one. They can now no longer do anything before his leaving date and have now found out that the pittance of a ILP will now be reduced as he will no longer be in employment with the company when he applies after the hearing can any one help with any advice He is supposed to be seeing the company doctor again next week and I am not very happy with that and think this is another ploy to stop the pension payment. He has phoned acas who just said that a company that size should be able to find him an alternative job, hes also been to citizens advice, sent to disability advice who cant help and just said get a lawyer, we cant afford one and the union lawyer wont get involved until after the procedures have all been followed, another disabled advise in a different town also cant help I am at the edge of my tether and this is making his condition far worse. what is the point of having disabled laws when there is no one there to help when they are not obeyed! any input gratefully appreciated

Long but i would appreciate some answers, im so sick of these people and their treatment against me, so i beg you help if you can. I lived in one of their properties after coming out from a woman refuge for 4 years with no problems, however my ex boyfriend found me and kept harassing me. I was living in Brent (lets say) and on my report from the police and national DV workers it CLEARLY stated i cannot be re housed in Brent. However i was re housed in Brent, i took this property as i was TOLD if i refused it i will be kicked off the management transfer list as im only allowed ONE choose. so im in the same borough i was fleeing and told not to be housed in. Whilst at this property i had a woman upstairs who racially abused me, harrassed me and threatened me several times. she never admitted to racially abusing me but she did admit to the neighborhood manager, knocking on my door to start arguments (harrassment) and banging on the floor at me (harassment) she was also recorded as i had noise recorders in my flat banging around on purpose to harrass and upset me, however because i only recorded for 5 days and not the whole 14days they said it isnt a "pattern" even though legally a pattern constitutes of more than two occurrences. I also contacted the police who didnt do anything, nobody wanted to do anything. In fact they didnt even want to move me only because i brought up i wasnt meant to be housed in Brent they moved me again. I actually developed BAD depression from all of the above. I was pregnant and i lost my baby from the stress. I have a claim with the Housing obud but they have a "backlog" of work and a year later still NO answer from them. so again im only allowed ONE choose as it is management transfer and im now in Camberwell london again had issues with the neighbor downstairs, he constantly knocked on my door, followed me to the end of the road, stared through my windows, had some stuff on cctv and he admitted to knocking on my door. This time the police were great however Had to go to top management for my neighborhood manager to even tell him to leave me alone. They kept saying its a "police matter" even though it says in the tenancy to not harrass other tenants Instead my NHM was more interested in harrassing me about getting carpet as the man downstairs kept complainin , as when i moved i left my job and was on benefits i had no money to get carpet, so i again had to go to top management to get £300 worth of vouchers for carpet, which ONLY covered a hallway, the flat is BIG NHM never addressed the fact the guy downstairs was harrassing me, in fact none of them did they seem to justify his stalking behaviour with the fact i didnt have carpet like that some how means he is allowed to stalk me because im making normal living noises. NOWHERE in my tenancy does it state i MUST have carpet, it just says you cannot have laminate flooring. they blackmailed me because they gave me £300 which didnt even cover the flat, they constantly mentioned this £300 and said i will have to give it back if i somehow dont carpet the whole flat with this £300 the flat actually cost £800 to carpet and underlay, thats CHEAP carpet too Now final issue the guy upstairs to me has laminate flooring, this is making it very noise upstairs, i have complained about it and stated i was told i had to carpet my flat (even though i could of had vinyl or lino due to tenancy) and again they bring up the £300 vouchers they also said to me that the man upstairs is just normal living noise and they will have to prove he is intentionally making noise i asked them if thats the case why wasnt i considered normal living noise when the man downstairs was complaining about me instead i was harrassed and blackmailed and they said because i had no flooring which i stated is untrue as i had carpet in my living room within 3 weeks of being here and he was complain about noise from the living room. they said guy upstairs has old tenancy and it doesnt say anything about laminate flooring i said well mine doesnt say anything about carpet but i still laid carpet and was told to lay it. QUESTION: I find their treatment of me very unfair, anytime i have a complaint it is brushed off, anytime anyone complains about me it is legitimate. They discriminate against me, ignore me, harass me and apply the tenancy when it comes to me but when it comes to others the tenancy doesnt include. they refuse to deal with harrassment which is stated in the tenancy they refuse to deal with noise nuisence which is in the tenancy for me but for guy downstairs they dealt with it what can i do? (i know some people may think im a nightmare, im not, im an easy target, im 21yrs old, short female who is usually home alone doing my uni work, im an easy target for bullies which is why i get into so many issues) just to add, when i made a complaint about the guy upstairs and his walking in boots on laminate flooring, he got the letter and came and banged on my door bout 20times in a row. I was asleep and he woke me up, it sounded like a police raid no joke. When i complained the next day to the Housing management they said he only wanted to talk to me i said NO this is untrue he wanted an argument, why wopuld you knock on someones door so much and i KNOW if i was a male he wouldnt of been bang down my door like that. they again brushed it off saying the guy is reasonable and i should talk to him, which tbh i dont want to i find him creepy. this guy has started to run up the stairs and stamp on the floor ever since i complained about him, but HM ignore it and act like im making it up because the guy has been here for 8 yrs with no complaints. but they fail to aknowledge the fact his flat has mostly been vacant within those years and the last main tenant who lived here was a deaf old women. the man upstairs thinks he owns this flat, he used to get his visotrs to press MY bell (because its so loud due to the last deaf tenant and his is broken) the fact that he even brings up he has been here 8yrs is irrelvant

Hi, I just wanted to know if anyone has had the same experience or has any information on what to do about this. At the start of my college course I informed them that I had epilepsy. I needed a few days off because of it and then I received an email in October from my tutor telling me I had been removed from the course. I hadn't been offered a chance to explain or offered any student support services before, or offered any reasonable adjustments. I was told I might be able to get back onto the course if I was able to supply a letter from a doctor stating I would not have any more issues with the seizures. The person who told me this worked in healthcare and knew this was impossible. After a week I was able to force them to get me back on the course. Then around January I was excluded from classes until I had a risk assessment for a few days. I have now been told I have to have 100% attendance regardless of any epilepsy issues or be removed from the course. Any advice on this? Thanks

Hi, I am thinking about making a grievance about my line manager for a failure to make reasonable adjustments under the equality act. I don't want to get into details about it but does anyone have any advice for composing a settlement agreement or advice about entering those discussions? Is it worth on my grievance mentioning that unlawful discrimination is gross misconduct what will their reaction be to this would a business investigate or start a disciplinary process for a key manager? As they have admitted to failing to make reasonable adjustments I'm not sure if I have this in writing though.

It seems you can't lawfully have religious beliefs any longer. Now you must put whatever anyone wants you to put on a cake or you end up in court. Why must someone 'have' to believe in same sex marriage, it's wrong.

http://no1forum.co.uk/showthread.php?1693-Freedom-undermined

Hi, I urgently need advice with regard to my Resignation Letter and what it should say. My maternity leave officially ended on 31st March. As the tribunal was set for Tuesday 7th April, I did not want to resign before the hearing. I am happy to say, after 18 months of upset, financial hardship and my poor mother's relentless efforts to get justice for me, I won my case for Pregnancy Discrimination and Victimization outright on Tuesday (7th April) After announcing the verdict, the Judge told me that, now, I must resign immediately and make a further claim for unfair dismissal. I would like to know, what I need to include in my letter bearing in mind my new claim for Unfair Dismissal Many Thanks

Hi, Last year I was diagnosed with ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder), and it transpires that I've had this condition since childhood. I'm now taking Methylphenidate, which has given me a bit more focus with detailed finances and small print etc. The effects throughout life have been subtle but profound, and very destructive in a number of ways; though I masked it somewhat due to being quite intelligent in other areas. One of the effects was (and still is) a difficulty working with figures and managing finances; it takes me about 4 times as long as a 'normal' person to deal with spreadsheets, complex calculations, financial concepts such as PPI etc. Only very recently I realised the implications of this, in regard to PPI mis-selling and reclaiming charges. It appears that, according to the Disability Discrimination Act, people should be covered against discrimination in regard to provision of Goods and Services: nidirect(dot)gov(dot)uk/mental-health-and-the-disability-discrimination-act-dda It would have been very difficult for me to fill out a loan or credit card form and make the right choices for my circumstances, and also to realise that something was wrong later. Now, speaking to the Mental Health Professionals in my area, it appears that adult diagnosis of things like Bi-polar and ADHD is becoming increasingly common these days, due to more awareness and improved diagnostic tools. It may be there is a whole demographic of the population who used to be just bracketed (like myself) 'bad with money', where they've actually been struggling with a hidden condition that impairs their ability to make accurate and timely choices regarding their finances. Worse, those that are 'good with money' have been preying on this trait for their own ends. I now feel, on the other side of the diagnostic 'curtain', like I've been 'milked' over the years, due to my naivety and poor skills with forms and numbers. Ring any bells for anyone? Can anyone point me to resources where Mental Disability has been used to get restitution, is there even a case for a US style Class Action suit? Thanks, hope this helps anyways.

Hi. I'm looking for some advice regarding my WTC. Currently I work 24 hours and receive £5 per week WTC which stops me from claiming free school meals for my 3 daughters. In September this year I'll be reducing my hours by 5 per week to allow me to drive my 2 youngest daughters to school so have been told I will loose my WTC which is no problem as it will allow me to receive free school meals. In February this year my husband was awarded the enhanced rate in both care and mobility of PIP which means we qualify for the severe disability premium of WTC. The council has now told me that as I have a disabled husband and I receive a premium for his disability I still won't qualify for free school meals as I'll still be receiving some WTC. I find this unfair because as she pointed out its because I have a disabled husband that means I can't get free school meals.