A charity which provides youth mental health services has been ordered to pay €7,000 to a former employee with dyslexia over its failure to provide her with reasonable accommodation in her job.
The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) ruled that Jigsaw – the National Centre for Youth Mental Health had breached the Employment Equality Act 1998 by discriminating against Caoimhe Gorrell on grounds of disability.
The WRC heard that Ms Gorrell had asked for the free app, Grammarly, which automatically corrects grammar and spelling to be downloaded on her work computer, but it was not done so for several months, despite promises to do so.
Ms Gorrell also asked in February 2023 if meetings could be minuted to avoid any ambiguity as she sometimes found it difficult “to process information verbally” because of her dyslexia.
The charity disputed the allegation that it had failed to provide Ms Gorrell with reasonable accommodation for her dyslexia and branded such a claim as “disingenuous".
It maintained that she was dismissed because she did not pass her probation because of her inability to carry out the requirements of her role.
Ms Gorrell (25), who was employed by Jigsaw under a 12-month contract as a youth and community engagement worker, told the WRC that she was diagnosed with dyslexia in the final year of her studies in social care practice.
Ms Gorrell said her employment ended on March 3rd, 2023 after just over five months in the role.
She argued that there had been no cost implications for the reasonable accommodation she had requested regarding taking minutes of meetings but the “simple and very reasonable” request was not met.
Ms Gorrell said it appeared that Jigsaw’s service manager, Damien Coyle, had already decided to terminate her employment by the time he eventually agreed to such a request in February 2023.
She claimed she was also discriminated against by the lack of information provided by Jigsaw to her request for reasons why her employment was being terminated.
Ms Gorrell claimed Jigsaw had failed to provide her with reasonable accommodation on multiple occasions.
She told the WRC that she believed she could have successfully passed her probation if they had been provided.
Ms Gorrell said her end of probation report was traumatising to read as some of its content was out of context and exaggerated, while other parts were “blatant lies".
A co-worker with Jigsaw, Aoife Walsh, who suffered from health issues with her back, gave evidence that the charity was very accommodating in providing her with any assistance that she had requested.
Jigsaw claimed that it was unaware of Ms Gorrell’s request for the Grammarly app until her mid-term probation review, when it was immediately downloaded for her.
The charity claimed there were no issues with her dyslexia but said other issues emerged at an early stage about her competence.
It maintained every request for special accommodation was met with a willingness by Mr Coyle despite placing a disproportionate burden on his time.
In evidence, Mr Coyle said he believed the complainant’s request was going beyond reasonable accommodation.
He claimed the decision to extend her probation in January 2023 should have been regarded by Ms Gorrell as a warning about her performance.
WRC adjudication officer, Louise Boyle, said it was not disputed that Ms Gorrell had requested a software app to provide assistance because of her disability and that the charity had not provided it despite saying it would.
Ms Boyle said it was not clear from a mid-term review of her probation after three months if it was “a pass or a fail".
She said it appeared “extraordinary” that Jigsaw had failed to respond specifically to her request for assistance on February 13th, 2023, that meetings should be minuted when she explained her difficulties in processing verbal information.
Ms Boyle said it was even more extraordinary that her supervisor, after advising her that her probation was being extended to May 2023, terminated her employment a short time later.
Accepting that the complainant had established a prima facie case of discrimination, Ms Boyle said Mr Coyle appeared to struggle to explain what specifically had changed between January and February 2023 that he no longer deemed it appropriate to extend Ms Gorrell’s employment.
She said it appeared the only change was Ms Gorrell’s explicit requests for accommodation for her dyslexia.
While Mr Coyle might have regarded the complainant’s request as unreasonable, disproportionate or unduly burdensome, Ms Boyle said she did not find that was the case.
She observed that Mr Coyle did not appear to make any informed decision about what appeared to be reasonable accommodations owing to Ms Gorrell’s disability.
Ms Boyle said it was also highly commendable that the complainant was taking steps to learn ways to support and better understand her disability by reaching out to Dyslexia Ireland as well as offering her manager details of support that could be utilised given Jigsaw supported young people with mental health issues.
Ordering the charity to pay compensation of €7,000 to Ms Gorrell, the WRC also rejected an application by Jigsaw that the names of the parties in the case should be anonymised.
