Key Findings: The tribunal ruled in Alison Mcrobbie’s favor on claims of unlawful harassment and the Department of Work and Pensions failure to make reasonable adjustments for Alison Mcrobbie’s disability.

Despite these victories, Alison McRobbie has raised serious concerns about certain aspects of the tribunal’s ruling, particularly regarding the treatment of disabled employees and the validity of documents presented by the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP). One key issue involved one of  an unpublished book from Alison Mcrobbie’s award – winning book collection, on self-employment, and allegations that she was working outside of hours—claims contradicted by evidence from TikTok UK.

TikTok data confirmed that at the alleged time,  Alison McRobbie was broadcasting live from a beach in Dorset with 321 viewers tuned into, commenting live to her broadcast, one of whom provided a witness statement to the court supporting this fact. Despite this, the judge chose to accept the testimony of three DWP witnesses, who not only contradicted their own statements, one eight times but, according to another witness, had their statements written by the DWP’s legal team rather than by themselves after they had sworn under oath that they had written their own witness statment. 

Additionally, Alison McRobbie expressed concern over the judge’s failure to hold the employer accountable for a serious breach of GDPR and Privacy Laws, in which the DWP carelessly disclosed the names and National Insurance numbers of a large number of Universal Credit claimants in public court documents. Despite the gravity of this error, no fault was found with The Department of Work and Pensions.

“I entered this workplace under the Disability Confidence Scheme, a program meant to support disabled workers. Yet, from day one, I was subjected to a toxic environment that only worsened due to my employer’s repeated failure to follow its own policies designed to protect disabled employees,” said Alison Mcrobbie. “The tribunal recognized these failures, which is an important win for disabled workers.”

The tribunal found that my employer, The Department of Work and Pensoins failed to implement reasonable adjustments as required under the Equality Act 2010.

Alison Mcrobbie had requested trigger points and other reasonable adjustments to manage the impact of their disabilities in the workplace. These written requests were repeatedly  ignored by the Department of Work and Pensions leading to multiple stressful grievance processes and the worsening of Alison MCrobbie’s mental and physical health.

Challenges in the Process: The case also highlighted procedural concerns. Despite the tribunal’s acknowledgment of certain failures by the employer, The Department of Work and Pensions, Alison Mcrobbie believes that the full extent of the discrimination and the impact on their health were not properly addressed by Judge Rainer.

During the case, Alison Mcrobbie faced difficulties, including limited time to cross-examine key witnesses and a dismissal of evidence that Alison Mcrobbie contends clearly demonstrated the link between the employer’s actions and the hostile environment created in the workplace. This evidence will be published as part of a resource Alison Mcrobbie has created called, The Justice Journals available from October 2024.  Which advocates to support and help other people navigate and understand the complexed legal system in regards to disability discrimination. 

“The tribunal repeatedly curtailed my ability to properly present my case, cutting my cross-examination short to 4.5 minutes in one instance, allowing the Department of Work and Pensions to repeatdly not comply with court orders,  despite my being a litigant in person with disabilities. I felt that the process itself was stacked against me fro the start.” 

Looking Ahead: While the ruling is a victory for disability rights, Alison Mcrobbie is considering an appeal on certain aspects of the case, particularly the tribunal’s decision not to link the harassment directly to their disability which is highly concerning for Alison Mcrobbie as this particular act of Harrasment was accepted by the tribunal upon the marred witness statement of another employee at the Department of Work and Pensions, who made fun of my adapted disability chair stating that I would like ‘Stephen Hawkins.’ making both facial and physical gestures of a discriminative kind.

“This case is about more than just my experience—it’s about ensuring that disabled workers are treated fairly and given the support they need to thrive in the workplace. I want to make sure that no one else has to go through what I did,” Alison Mcrobbie said.

Conclusion: This case serves as an important reminder for employers that they must take their obligations under the Equality Act seriously, especially when it comes to making reasonable adjustments and preventing harassment in the workplace. Alison Mcrobbie hopes this victory will encourage other disabled workers to stand up for their rights and push for fair treatment at work.