Disabled HMRC worker awarded £20k after bosses refuse to let him apply for job
11.08.2022 - 07:19
/ dailyrecord.co.uk
A disabled HMRC worker has been awarded £20,000 after he was refused the chance to apply for a promotion on the basis he couldn't drive.
An employment tribunal has ruled that Hamish Drummond, from Dundee, should have been allowed to apply for one of ten senior tax investigator jobs being offered by the public body in 2020. Hamish, a tax office employee for 20 years, was encouraged to go for the role, a more senior version of his existing job, only to be knocked back before he could finish the application process.
The 42-year-old suffers from sudden onsets of dizziness and fainting, which in the past have led to him passing out and knocking his head. Doctors have been unable to identify a cause for his symptoms, but he was ordered to surrender his driving licence to the DVLA in May 2018 on medical grounds.
HR bosses said a licence was essential for the job, despite Hamish performing "very well" in his existing role without one. When he asked to be considered on his other merits, HMRC regional boss Paul Curry told him he wasn't "substantially disadvantaged" by his fainting disorder and would not be put forward for the position.
However, an employment tribunal in Edinburgh has concluded that he should be considered to have a disability and tax bosses should have taken that into account before culling him from the recruitment process. Hamish told the panel that he was "extremely disappointed and aggrieved" at being unable to apply for the role, adding that it "amplified his frustration" at his medical condition.
It calculated that Hamish had a 75 per cent chance of getting the role had he been allowed to apply - and in the end, HMRC filled just six of the ten roles it had advertised. It also readily employs staff who can't
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