u/HolidayFlight792

Hi everyone,

I’ve had the NHS respondent ask for my settlement value prior to preliminary hearing later this year.

I’ve taken in board what our legal friends have said about LiP’s over valuing, and my research on settlement value bears that out.

AI has been treating Otshudi as my closest comparator, although there are significant differences - I was discriminated against after unconditional offer but before handing in my notice. So I didn’t have the anxiety of unemployment hanging over me.

So, I’m realistic that it’s going to be a lower settlement. However, I’m having real trouble establishing where it sits, because there was an awful lot that happened, and it did have a big impact on me.

Here are some e more detailed facts, and I’d be grateful for our legal friends informed view:

- Disability discrimination, after unconditional offer and emails indicating acceptance, but prior to completing formal paperwork and handing in notice.

- Pleaded heads: reasonable adjustments (s.20/21), s.15 arising, s.26 harassment

- Vulnerabilities / Impact : Neurodivergent claimant with bipolar disorder, going through grievance in their workplace and very much needing to escape the stressors that lead to the grievance. The aggravation of bipolar caused intense psychological distress, I had the embarrassment of telling people that my new job had fallen through and I struggled with fitting back into the team. Two months later, I went off long term sick due to depression arising partly from my treatment here, and partly from the unresolved workplace issues.

It was a huge knock to my confidence - I’m clinically qualified to a very high level, I’m trained to do things most people employed at my level aren’t trained to do. I was taking a step down for this job - a training post - and already had the qualifications, the only training I needed was in using them in a different t clinical area. It was the first time I’d applied for a job since my neurodiverse diagnoses and I had no idea what to expect in terms of agreeing reasonable adjustments from outset of employment, and the adjustments recommended in my OH report weren’t anything major. As a result, I lost my confidence and over a year later I still lack the confidence to apply for jobs

- We agreed a meeting for me to see the environment - I needed this to work out what my environmental / sensory needs were.

- That meeting was cancelled, then, with my knowledge, a second reasonable adjustments meeting was organised. I explained I needed to see the environment to know what I needed, and despite not being invited to attend in person, I was told that was what the reasonable adjustments meeting was for.

- I assumed the meeting was informal because I was not told otherwise, there was no agenda sent and I wasn’t offered the chance to bring someone. It was only when they asked to record it that I realised it was formal.

- there was someone very senior present - so senior they wouldn’t usually have anything to do with me, let alone my recruitment process. They weren’t even in my line management structure. That person was profoundly negative throughout, and gave reasons for not agreeing to reasonable adjustments that were ridiculous.

- I was refused adjustments that had no impact on service or clients or colleagues.

- the first 25 minutes was spent mining for details of my problems and give they presented in the current workplace, then they would claim they had the same factors in their workplace (this is easily disproven with material evidence) then saying they were being honest because they didn’t want me to leave my existing job and regret it.

- I repeatedly advocated for myself - including pointing out the excessive negativity and twice saying the meeting wasn’t working because I cannot know my reasonable adjustment needs without first visiting the environment - but they insisted this meeting was the right way to go about it. Every time I self-advocated I was either ignored or dismissed.

- There were several neurodiverse cognitive strengths I disclosed, which were ignored in favour of asking me about my problems. At the end of the meeting, they asked to be reminded of where I was in my training - I’ve completed it, I’ve been working using these extra qualifications for years - they hadn’t familiarised themselves with the baseline of what my skills are before diving into all this negativity.

- Meeting was 90 minutes, most of it negative. I wasn’t offered option if reasonable adjustments for meeting.

- Despite the meeting being video recorded, I was not given access to either video or transcript - I reasonably gave consent on the assumption I was an equal participant and would have equal access.

- Bottom line was this meeting was about what their perceived need for knowing all about my ‘problems’ were, because they perceived me as someone likely not fit for the role.

- I was very distressed, but masked it well and sent a very polite email saying I was withdrawing because I was uncomfortable with how the meeting was handled. This was ignored, as was my request to received access to transcript and video (although I eventually got transcript by sending a chaser pointing out the behaviour was at best rude and at worst discrimination).

- SAR to receive transcript and video ignored.

- Negative recruitment feedback ignored.

- Formal complaint ignored.

- ET3 contains illness framing of neurodiversity, misleads by claiming there was only one trainee post (transcript shows there were two) and makes a second false disability claim as evidence I would not be able to do the job, also disprovable on transcript.

- ET3 admits 3 x data breaches of the content of my OH report.

- One of these admissions was discussion with those who would have been peer colleagues, who made a joint decision to invite me to a reasonable adjustments meeting. Additional evidence creates a compelling picture that this reasonable adjustments meeting was in fact my agreed informal visit repurposed without my knowledge or consent. When it was necessary for me to cancel, I was refused the option of rescheduling and told that a reasonable adjustments meeting was required first. When I read the ET3, several things that I’d clocked as strange suddenly made sense, and when I realised my informal visit was really a meeting - decided upon by peer colleagues - to discuss reasonable adjustments,

I felt like an animal on display in a zoo.

I’ve known people with fewer extra skills than me be successful in recruitment processes with disciplinary hearings hanging over them, and do not understand the judgement and unkindness I received.

Many thanks.

NHS &amp; Judicial Mediation

NHS & Judicial Mediation