Barclays has to pay an ex-employee almost PS50,000 for failing to adjust their hours when she was suffering from endometriosis.
Anca Lacatus was an analyst for the bank between 2016 and 2020. Anca Lacatus experienced debilitating endometriosis symptoms, a chronic disease affecting the uterine lining. Her mental health also deteriorated.
She began her sick leave in 2019. During this time, the company announced that it would be making redundancies within her department. She filed her first complaint with the tribunal for harassment, discrimination and victimisation based on disability, race, and sex.
She was dismissed during her sick leave. At that time, she filed a claim for unfair dismissal. She lost her claim for unfair dismissal in 2021.
Lacatus, the tribunal heard, returned to Romania after being fired to live with her family due to financial difficulties. She is still unable to work due to her health problems and “sees little prospect of returning to her career”.
The court rejected a number claims made by Lacatus but found that Barclays failed to ensure that she didn’t work more than her contracted hours, which was a reasonable adjustment considering her chronic illness. It also found that the workplace she worked in amounted sexism. Her manager would refer to her female co-workers as “birds” at times.
The tribunal stated in when deciding on her compensation: “The situation before us was stark. The claimant believes that Barclays’ unlawful treatment has led to her mental and physical health deteriorating to the point where she lost hope of resuming her career as a financial advisor.
She argued that respondents should be held responsible for the decline in her health. She claimed that because of her health decline, she was unable to continue working and that she could claim back all lost wages.
Barclays offered a compensation of PS16,000. Lacatus claimed she lost PS1.3m before tax, taking into account her loss of earnings and medical costs.
The remedy judgement ruled that the woman should receive almost PS31,000 in damages as a result of her personal injury, mental illness and endometriosis being aggravated by the bank. This amounted, after interest, to PS48.202.14.
The tribunal did not award compensation for lost earnings because it ruled there was “100%” chance that she would have had the same mental health and physical prognosis if the bank hadn’t made reasonable adjustments.
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