A fitness instructor with a fear of sweat has won a discrimination claim after her 'hygiene' anxiety was triggered by being asked to pick up a sweaty gym towel.
Ali Burton had a recognised fear of bodily fluids including blood and sweat that she told bosses at Nuffield Health about during her interview.
The 27-year-old suffered for many years from a condition known as Generalised Anxiety Disorder which a tribunal heard was triggered as a result of 'cleanliness and hygiene issues.'
But she was left traumatised after her duty manager Sean Foord asked her to pick up sweat towels used by gym members from the floor at the end of a shift on 30 May 2018.
Ali, who had started working as a Personal Fitness Trainer for the company earlier that month, suffered from panic attacks and intrusive thinking, becomes upset and emotional and suffers from loss of energy and disturbed sleep.
She has had the condition for several years and self manages it without medication.
In her witness statement, Ali recalled the moment her anxiety was triggered at the gym in Crawley, West Sussex.
She said: "He (Sean Foord) started to check the free weights area and upon arrival here I mentioned that apart from a couple of towels, all was good.
"He saw the sweat towels on the gym floor. He then asked why they were still there. I informed him I could not pick them up.
"He then questioned why I could not pick them up. I was taken aback by his comment and felt awkward and embarrassed.
"I replied with: 'it’s just something I can’t do' I was uncomfortable at this point as we were in a public environment because the gym was not closed."
Ali said in her statement that Sean Foord then told her "we all have to do things that are unpleasant" and asked if she could pick them up with gloves on.
She added: "I explained that it’s not that I am unwilling, it’s an actual issue for me.
"I felt pressurised that he would not accept my explanation, but I then reiterated that I could not do it because of the potential that the towel would touch my body. He pressed me to explain.
"I was extremely uncomfortable because I don’t have clinical language and it is hard to explain.
"I felt embarrassed at having to explain and justify my condition. He was challenging everything I said – I was trying to say I cannot physically do it. I said I can’t have them physically touching my body.
"He then proceeded to pick up the two towels, mockingly held them with arms outstretched and said, “you can do it like this – it’s good for the deltoids”.
"He then put the towels in the towel bin. At no point did I pick up the towels."
Ali claimed Mr Foord then questioned her ability to clean and told her: "We will have to talk about that then because it could affect you working here”.
She added: "My heart was pounding, and I was very overwhelmed, I just didn’t want to be alone with him or near him."
The tribunal agreed that "at some point in the conversation Mr Foord should have realised that the claimant was trying to convey that she had a medical condition that was affecting her ability to carry out the full range of her duties."
They accepted he did not know about her condition but said the company had been made fully aware and occupational health had advised her not to undertake hygiene related tasks as this could be a trigger for her GAD.
She was passed fit to do the role with a set of agreed modifications.
The tribunal heard that despite this, bosses described her as difficult to work and in a subsequent meeting over the issue the then fitness manager Sarah Norman stated she "did not understand why the claimant wanted to work in a gym if she was afraid of sweat."
The claimant claimed at her last one to one meeting with Ms Norman before the manager left, she compared the decision to work in a gym with her metal health condition to someone "with a milk allergy deciding to work in Costa."
The tribunal ruled she was "out of her depth" and conveyed a degree of hostility and irritation at having to manage an employee with a condition that required adjustments.
Ms Norman denied having made this remark about coffee, but the tribunal ruled it was too specific a comment to have been fabricated.
A tribunal judge ruled she had been discriminated against for her disability. She will be awarded compensation to be determined at a later date.
