Tuesday 20 September 2022 03:08 PM Solicitor with asthma who was sacked after taking time off wins disability ... trends now
An asthmatic solicitor who was sacked from her high-flying banking job because she took time off sick and asked to work from home has won a claim of disability discrimination against her former employer.
Gulnaz Raja was criticised by 'demanding' boss Matt Newman who 'valued' staff working late in the office.
Rather than participate in the 'long hours culture' at Starling Bank, Miss Raja - who suffers from asthma - would only arrive five minutes early for board meetings - 40 minutes after her boss.
The tribunal heard that despite Mr Newman regarding long hours as important, she would then leave work at the time stated in her contract.
When the 36-year-old later fell ill, took time off and started requesting to be able to work from home, Mr Newman became 'impatient' with her, the hearing was told.
He then fired her from her £76,000-a-year job as deputy company secretary after concluding she was 'not a Starling person'.
Gulnaz Raja has successfully sued Starling Bank, her ex-employer for disability discrimination after she was dismissed because she wanted to work her contracted hours in the office
Miss Raja will now receive compensation after successfully suing the bank for disability discrimination.
The Central London tribunal heard Miss Raja - a solicitor since 2010 - started work at the bank in July 2019 and passed her probation three months later.
Mr Newman, the chief administrative officer and company secretary, congratulated her on her hard work, telling her he was looking forward to working with with her in the future.
However, he quickly began to grow dissatisfied with her performance.
'[Miss Raja] said that [Mr Newman] was demanding about people being present and on time and that it was a long hours culture,' the tribunal heard.
The hearing was told that for board meetings starting at 8.30am, he would be in at 7.45am to set up - but Miss Raja would turn up five minutes before they were due to start.
'She said she was not able to stay in the office beyond her contracted hours but would log on and work later in the evening,' the tribunal heard, with the panel noting examples of when she had worked long hours from home were given.
Mr Newman - also a solicitor - told the hearing she showed a 'lack of ownership', that her performance was
