A woman left disabled by a car crash has won a harassment claim against the Department of Work and Pensions after a colleague span round in her new office chair while telling her she ‘felt like Stephen Hawking’.
DWP work coach Alison McRobbie had been showing off the office equipment designed to make her more comfortable to fellow staff member Josie Hooper, an employment tribunal heard.
But to her shock, her co-worker sat in it and made the ‘unflattering’ comparison to the A Brief History of Time author – the world famous physicist who was confined to a wheelchair for the vast majority of his adult life – while ‘spinning round in it’ and ‘laughing’.
The tribunal found that ‘very sensitive’ Miss McRobbie may have ‘misunderstood’ the incident but ruled that Ms Hooper had harassed her by the way her remark ‘drew particular attention’ to her disability.
She is now set to receive compensation from the government.
The tribunal, held in Southampton, Hampshire, heard Miss McRobbie started working for the DWP in the Universal Credit department in June 2021.
The work coach, who is now a ‘social media influencer’ on TikTok, suffered from arthritis and crepitus – cracking joints – in her right knee, right hand, and to her neck following a traffic accident in 2017.
Upon starting work, Miss McRobbie asked for some ‘reasonable adjustments’ to be made to the physical work place in terms of her desk and her chair.
DWP work coach Alison McRobbie (pictured) had been showing off the office equipment designed to make her more comfortable
She said the current seat she had was too low and has no neck support, causing pain and affecting her back, it was heard.
During a period in which Miss McRobbie was working from home, she was told a chair with a high back and a headrest had been requested.
After lengthy delays, the furniture was delivered and installed on October 12, 2022.
Some 10 days later, Miss McRobbie was in the office and invited her colleague Ms Hooper over to take a look at it because she was ‘genuinely pleased’ with her chair.
It was then that Miss McRobbie alleged that Ms Hooper – who was said to be ‘impressed’ by the office furniture – discriminated against her.
She alleged that Ms Hooper sat on the chair, compared it to Stephen Hawking’s, before ‘making faces and gesticulating’ in a mocking manner.
Referring to Miss McRobbie’s witness statement, Employment Judge Catherine Rayner said: ‘She said that a colleague sat in her chair spinning round in it, laughing and saying I was going to look like Stephen Hawking in this chair.
‘She then made gestures mimicking Mr Hawking’s disabled posture.’
The tribunal, held in Southampton, Hampshire, heard Miss McRobbie started working for the DWP in the Universal Credit department in June 2021
Ms Hooper told the tribunal that she ‘did not remember the events very well’ and could ‘not definitely say that she had not made the comments’.
While the tribunal ruled that on the balance of probabilities that Miss Hooper ‘did make a comment’ about Hawking, they said she ‘did not make facial gesture and did not mimic a disabled person’ and said Miss McRobbie’s account was ‘exaggerated’.
‘However we also recognise that in terms of appearance, a comparison between how he looked and how another person might look when using [Miss McRobbie’s] chair, was not flattering or complimentary,’ EJ Rayner added.
‘[We] find that she was upset at the time and that part of the reason for her upset was a comment linking her chair with Stephen Hawking,’ the judge continued.
‘We find it was unwanted and that it was related to her disability.’
After ‘a serious breakdown in the relationship’ between Miss McRobbie and the DWP, she was dismissed for alleged gross misconduct and stopped work in November last year.
She took the government department to the tribunal claiming discrimination, unfair dismissal and harassment.
The tribunal upheld the claim of harassment in relation to the Stephen Hawking comment.
They said Miss McRobbie is an ‘intelligent woman’ who is an ‘enthusiastic user of social media and posts content about many matters, as well as having some significant following as what she describes as a social media influencer’.
Upholding her claims, the judge said: ‘We have taken into account as set out above that [Miss McRobbie] had not been into the office for some time that she was known to be a person who was very sensitive and also that the comment itself drew particular attention to [her] disability.
‘Whilst we all agree that most people would not find this to be offensive, we accept that it is reasonable for it to be treated as harassment in this case and we therefore find that [Miss McRobbie] was harassed.’
She also won a claim that the DWP had failed to make reasonable adjustments for her disability.
Other claims made by Miss McRobbie, who represented herself during the proceedings, were dismissed.
A remedy hearing to decide her compensation will be held at a later date.
