Accident victim was unfairly dismissed

A local customer care assistant, who was absent from work sporadically after sustaining injuries in a serious traffic accident, has won an unfair dismissal case.

The Employment Appeals Tribunal has ruled that Aviva Direct Ireland Limited must pay €1,000 in compensation to Brid O’Brien who the Knocknacarra-based company dismissed unfairly. The ruling was made last week following a hearing held in August last year.

The worker’s role was to take phone calls from customers, and it involved inputting information onto a computer using keyboard.

In September 2010, she was involved in a serious traffic accident and underwent surgery.

In December of that year, it was agreed at a meeting with her employer that she would provide regular updates about her injury. The main problem with her returning to work was her right wrist, which was in a “locked” position and did not have full rotation.

In May 2011 she returned to work and was on duty two hours in the morning initially, which later increased to five hours.

She claimed to be experiencing “excruciating” wrist pain; and was concerned that she was not meeting her targets but claimed the employer was not addressing those concerns.

The call centre manager gave evidence that several attempts were made to get the worker back to work including flexible hours. The manager denied that any pressure was put on the claimant regarding her productivity.

The worker felt that the company doctor was not accepting that the wrist pain was so severe that it prevented her from working full-time hours.

She asked to be assessed by an ergonomist but the manager said it did not undertake an ergonomic test because the company doctor had a good knowledge in this area.

She told the tribunal that each day she had to seek approval from her manager to leave due to the pain. This “wore me down”, she said.

In October 2013 an appointment was arranged with another doctor but a copy of the assessment was not made available to her.

She was informed by letter on November 23, 2013 that she was being dismissed, and she was given four weeks’ notice.

The tribunal, in its ruling, noted the company’s “failure to engage with the claimant and address her concerns with regard meeting her targets”. This it said was a “significant” factor in the case.

The tribunal was also concerned about the absence of medical reports from visits by the claimant to a second doctor, which were arranged by the company. The worker had not received the medical assessment reports either.

The tribunal also noted that the company did not consider an ergonomic assessment, “which might have led to the provision of appropriate aids or adaptations to the claimant’s work area.”

It awarded the claimant €1,000 for unfair dismissal.