Islington must pay disabled worker made to hot desk £10,000

Islington Council must pay a disabled worker more than £10,000 after she was made to hot desk in Finsbury Park, a tribunal has ruled.

Employment judge McNeill QC upheld a complaint from a Miss D Japal at a Watford employment tribunal, ordering the council to pay her £10,102.50, including £102.50 interest for “injury to feelings”.

The court heard how Miss Japal had been subjected to hot desking, a practice where workers are made to move desks dependent on shifts, at her office in Newington Barrow Way.

In his judgement, Judge McNeill stated: “It is declared that the respondent subjected the claimant to unlawful disability discrimination contrary to s.21 and s.15 of the Equality Act 2010.”

The judge found she needed a “fixed desk of her choice on the second floor” of the building. It must also be “appropriate to her needs” and delivered “as soon as practicable”.

The judgement does not specify what Miss Japals’s disability is.

Three of her colleagues must also receive “training on [Islington’s] hot desking policy and the duty to make reasonable adjustments”.

Islington Council declined to comment.

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