A British Airways cabin crew member has won a discrimination claim after she was sacked for being too anxious to fly.
Jennifer Clifford worked for the airline for almost four decades before the coronavirus pandemic, an employment tribunal heard.
It was during lockdown when Ms Clifford began developing symptoms of depression and stress after being placed on furlough.
She was declared unfit to fly and was moved to a ground role, but was dismissed in 2022 due to her mental health issues.
Ms Clifford sued BA because her manager Nigel Landy had “minimised” the severity of her condition he described as “just a little bit of anxiety”, Reading Tribunal Court was told.
During her period of leave, Ms Clifford was told that she would be made redundant in August 2020.
Later that month, Clifford’s redundancy was revoked and was offered an alternative role as cabin crew.
But the role was two grades below that of an in-flight manager, leading Ms Clifford to appeal against that decision while also raising a grievance for the demotion.
The court heard that Ms Clifford remained on furlough until September 2021 before starting a period of sick leave — her first in almost 40 years at BA.
Ms Clifford later proposed a phased return from London Gatwick Airport, rather than her normal base at Heathrow.
She said the changes would reduce her commuting time, which “increased feelings of stress and anxiety arising in consequence of her disability”.
In September 2022, BA informed Ms Clifford that if she did not make herself fit to fly then a day for her departure would be set.
A termination date was set for March 2023, but Ms Clifford left in December 2022. However, Ms Clifford is set to receive a payout, with the tribunal saying that BA should have given her more credit for her acts of service.
Upholding her claims of disability discrimination, failure to make reasonable adjustments and unfair dismissal, Judge Emma Hawksworth concluded: “Ms Clifford needed a phased return in a ground duties placement before returning to her full contractual flying role.
“That was because of the need to rebuild her confidence and to give time to adjust to working again, and these requirements arose from her disability. She remained unable, because of anxiety and depression, to return to her flying role when required to do so by (BA) at the end of the resourcing and recruitment placement.
“Mr Landy telling (Clifford) she had ‘just a little bit of anxiety’ was clumsy and suggested to [Clifford] that he was minimising her condition. It came across as an attempt to dismiss how she was feeling.
“(Clifford) had very long service with (BA). She had had a lengthy period of absence from work, in part because of things for which she was not responsible: a long period of furlough and a long period when the respondent was considering her grievance.
“A reasonable employer would have given her a longer and more suitable phased return and would, in line with its policy, have considered redeployment to a ground based role before deciding to dismiss her.”
Ms Clifford’s additional claim of sex discrimination was dismissed by the judge.
