In the case of Ms E Kalhor v The Hospital of St John and St Elizabeth Ms Kalhor was employed as an Outpatient Administration Clerk. Her role involved a variety of duties including welcoming and registering visitors, invoicing and taking payments, liaising with nursing staff. Her line manager was the Patient Services Manager with whom it was said she had a strained relationship.
The London Central employment tribunal found that Ms E Kalhor’s resignation from her role at The Hospital of St John and St Elizabeth in 2020 effectively amounted to unfair dismissal, as her reasons for leaving included a failure to make reasonable adjustments and a failure to investigate or respond to repeated grievances.
Ms Kalhor suffered severe pain in her back and arm. In 2018 she was referred for an occupational health assessment and several recommendations were made, including the need for Kalhor to change her posture regularly and rotate her duties to avoid prolonged sitting and standing. The hospital made no adjustments following this report.
After a consultant spinal surgeon diagnosed some degenerative changes to her spine, she went to a further OH appointment. The report noted that Kalhor had to look up to speak to patients, and that the repetitive lifting of her head could aggravate her pain and symptoms. It was recommended that consideration be given to how she could reduce this repetitive movement.
A third OH report in 2019 said that Kalhor had a chronic musculoskeletal condition that she was receving treatment for and would need time off work. In November 2019, a fourth OH report stated that Kalhor was not fit for work and she was signed off on sick leave. A phased return was recommended and adjustments including frequent rest breaks, modifying equipment and rotating tasks away from her desk were suggested, however when she returned none of these adjustments were discussed.
She later resigned from her role. Employment Judge Mark Emery said that ignoring the occupational health reports and failure to fix the floor placed the claimant at a disadvantage.
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