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Woman secures victory in landmark disability discrimination claim



A woman who claimed she was the victim of disability discrimination has won what has been described as a landmark victory.

Elizabeth Boyle, who suffers from vocal nodules, alleged that her employers changed her working environment in a way that would have threatened her health, the BBC reports.

Her medical condition involves the growth of benign callous-like objects on the vocal cords and symptoms include pain, an unstable voice while speaking and hoarseness.

She took action after her firm, SCA Packaging, sought to remove a partition separating her office from a stock control room.

This, she believed, would cause her symptoms to flare up.

After beginning legal action, bosses at the firm made her redundant, causing her to add claims of victimisation and unfair dismissal to her case.

The dispute ended up in the House of Lords, which has now ruled that managers need to take action if the return of a medical problem "could well happen" due to working conditions.

Ms Boyle was awarded £125,000, which she will receive from the business.

Employment partner at Lamport Bassitt Jonathan Gray said: "Until the Equality Bill becomes law the main protection for disabled employees/job applicants under current disability laws is that an employer should consider making reasonable adjustments before they act to the detriment of the disabled person.

"This may for example be adjusting a redundancy selection criteria so that is does not discriminate against a disabled employee, or adjusting an interview process for disabled applicants, so they have the same chance as a non-disabled applicant."

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