A British Airways worker has been awarded £2,000 compensation for injury to feelings at an employment tribunal after she was sacked following surgery to treat her endometriosis.
Cordelle Scotland, 39, took time off after an operation for the gynaecological condition and was criticised by a boss who suggested she should have instead swapped some of her shifts with a colleague.
Miss Scotland, who worked at Heathrow Airport as a customer services representative, failed her probationary period in February 2019 and was told she had been sacked for absence and being late to work 13 times.
She then sued BA and a tribunal ruled Miss Scotland's boss Nicola Drinkwater had treated her 'unfavourably' by criticising her for not swapping shifts after the operation.
The tribunal also stated that Miss Scotland would have been sacked anyway due to her lateness but awarded her compensation for injury to feelings. She accepted BA's offer of £2,000.
Fleet of Boeings 747 of British Airways standing on the apron of London Heathrow airport
The hearing was told Miss Scotland had worked for BA for eight months and already had her probation extended because of absences and lateness, when she emailed them about her upcoming operation in November 2018.
In her email to BA, Miss Scotland stated: 'I am due for hospital admission on December 11 for an abdominal myomectomy due to my fibroids and endometriosis reaching the stage of disability which in turn affects my work and life in general greatly.
'To put it into perspective, my uterus is the same size as a five and a half month pregnancy due to the tumours. The recovery period is about 4 weeks however I have concerns as to how this may affect my probation.
'I need to have this surgery on this date as I have been having treatment for the last three months to help shrink the fibroids before surgery and it is not recommended for me to continue the treatment any longer than three months as it has induced me into menopause which can trigger osteoporosis. My third and last treatment will be on November 14.'
As a result she was signed off by her GP for two weeks from December 15.
When her probationary period ended in February 2019, BA informed Miss Scotland her employment would be terminated as 'your attendance level is
