A HR manager who was told that his work was “messy” lost a discrimination and harassment case after being told . The employment tribunal ordered him to pay the costs.
Thomas Shevlin started working as a senior HR Operations Manager for the publishing company John Wiley & Sons in May 2022. The tribunal heard that he had ADHD and dyslexia traits, but hadn’t disclosed this to his employer.
Rebecca Roycroft, his manager, met with Thomas in May 2023 for the end-of-year evaluation. She told him that when Thomas is busy, he tends to rush his work, which results in typos, the use of capitals where they are not appropriate, and sentences with no sense.
Roycroft admitted that Shevlin had been “super-busy” but said that his mistakes “were not good for his brand when dealings with stakeholders across the globe as they can be perceived as messy work”.
Shevlin left the position shortly afterward, having secured a new job. He then filed a complaint for disability discrimination.
Shevlin was ordered to pay John Wiley & Sons costs totalling PS20,000 in monthly installments of PS1,000 after the tribunal determined that the employer’s actions didn’t meet the threshold for discrimination and harassment.
In the original judgement published on February 20, 2024, employment Judge Massarella stated that “although the claimant felt deeply humiliated by the remarks… if this was his reaction, then it was an unreasonable response”.
Shevlin’s claims were therefore deemed unfounded and rejected.
It was reasonable for her to not have referred Shevlin to occupational health if she knew that Roycroft had dyslexia, and if she thought Shevlin may also be affected.
The tribunal heard that he “barely” mentioned feeling aggrieved at the comments made by his manager in his review when he raised a formal complaint against the way severance from the company was handled.
A judge noted also that there was only one medical document submitted as part of the court papers. The assessment did not reveal a causal link between the ADHD and his errors at work.
Shevlin’s doctor concluded that he had average reading, comprehension, and sentence composition. “There was no finding or conclusion” that Shevlin has dyslexia.
The judge said that Ms Roycroft’s comments did not even begin to reach the high threshold of harassment.
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