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John Cooper |
‘Dazed and dizzy’ vertigo sufferer’s tribunal victory
‘A simple apology could have saved taxpayers a lot of money’
A HOUSING surveyor who suffered dizzying spells of vertigo after being forced to work in Hampstead was said to be “a very happy man” after a work tribunal upheld his claims of disability discrimination and harassment by Camden Council.
John Cooper, 46, was awarded an £8,800 payout by a panel of employment judges in a unanimous verdict reached on Friday.
The ruling found “reasonable adjustments” had not been made for Mr Cooper’s diagnosed disability and that he had been unlawfully harassed.
The findings advised Camden Council to look at its disability management policy to avoid similar cases.
Mr Cooper took the council to the employment tribunal after being forced to negotiate the narrow slopes and winding bus routes of Hampstead and West Hampstead for six months from January 2007.
He had been transferred from the far smaller Holborn housing district, where he had worked for 13 years, despite warning his bosses it would aggravate his vertigo.
Mr Cooper was diagnosed with Ménière’s disease, an ear disorder that is the main cause of vertigo, in 2002 and medical evidence was presented to the tribunal showing how extra travel and working at height would “exacerbate” his condition.
But his legitimate pleas were ignored and, after enduring lengthy train and bus trips each day and being forced to work on Hampstead roof tops by his bosses, he was beset by daily bouts of vertigo that left him depressed and unable to work.
He told the tribunal last Tuesday: “Everything in Hampstead was new to my senses. I felt like I was walking on spongy ground – it was vertigo.”
And colleagues told the tribunal how Mr Cooper was once found sitting at a bus stop “looking dazed”.
To add to his woes, Mr Cooper received emails from bosses who claimed he “misunderstood things” because he was “deaf”.
The tribunal heard how the “autocratic” style of his Hampstead housing manager, Maurice Jones, led to repeated flare-ups in the work place that left Mr Cooper “more stressed than [he had] ever been before”.
Mr Jones was unable to attend to give evidence because he is currently on sick leave.
The council’s legal team had argued that Mr Cooper’s managers could be forgiven for thinking he was simply “making it up”, as he had never officially recorded his problem before the move to Hampstead.
Unison steward Liz Wheatley said the costly case could have been avoided with a simple apology from the council.
She said: “Camden has a duty of care to all its employees, and that should include both making reasonable adjustments to enable staff with disabilities to carry out their duties, and making sure that staff do not face harassment and discrimination.
“This is a case that could have easily been resolved almost two years ago had the senior managers simply considered how to help an experienced surveyor continue to provide a service to Camden’s tenants, and treated him properly along the way.
“Instead, thousands of pounds of public money has been spent at a time when investment in Housing is desperately needed.
A council spokeswoman said: “Camden Council can confirm we have not been successful in the John Cooper employment tribunal case.
“We have not yet received the rationale for the tribunal’s decision. Once we have received this we will be reviewing our position.”
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