A WOMAN from Holyhead was not dismissed from her job with Avanti because of her disability or her sickness record, an employment tribunal has ruled.

Chelsey Thomas’ claims of direct disability discrimination, failure to make reasonable adjustments and discrimination arising from disability against the rail company were all dismissed at a hearing in Llandudno.

She had worked for Avanti for more than 18 years when she was dismissed from her role as a member of on-board staff in January 2023.

The tribunal heard that Ms Thomas is a registered disabled person suffering from hereditary spastic paraplegia, a progressive condition affecting mobility, stability and balance.

READ MORE:

Gwynedd B&B owner nominated for special Welsh award

Residents move into new eco-friendly Anglesey housing development

Openreach fined £1.3million after death of ‘selfless’ Gwynedd engineer

Based at Holyhead, her weekly working hours had been reduced from the initial total of 41 to 27 following her request to work flexibly.

Ms Thomas worked on the Holyhead-to-London and Holyhead-to-Crewe routes, predominantly serving food and drinks, but was absent in mid-2021 after a bad reaction her COVID-19 vaccination, and an incident where she jarred her back.

When she returned to work, she made an “informal arrangement” with colleagues that they would serve first-class passengers at their seats while she would remain at the on-board shop, before later agreeing to work solely on the shorter Holyhead-to-Crewe route.

A safety officer observed Ms Thomas at work on a journey in December 2021 and, concerned about her limitations in stability and mobility, recommended removing her from on-board working.

Similarly, occupational health advisers later certified that Ms Thomas was unfit for working on a train, and in January 2022, she was redeployed to a temporary administrative role in Holyhead.

There, Ms Thomas was given specific tasks to complete, but would, on occasion, have “nothing to do” – Avanti subsequently encouraged her to look for alternative employment within the company.

In July 2022, Ms Thomas was offered an administrative role in Crewe – the only position Avanti could offer her at the time – but she declined due to the commuting time it would have involved.

Ms Thomas was informed she was being dismissed, with notice, in October 2022, and she left the following January, receiving an ill-health payment and all other monies owed to her.

The tribunal found that Avanti having a safety officer observe Ms Thomas at work on a train was an “informal, but effective, risk assessment”, and that she was not “treated less favourably”, nor was she put at “that significant risk”.

Avanti was also found to have gone to “considerable lengths” to accommodate Ms Thomas, and had made “reasonable adjustments” for her.

Employment judge Tobias Vincent Ryan concluded: “It would not have been reasonable to allow Ms Thomas to remain working in the shop on the train, as she was certified as unfit to work the foreseeable future, including in the shop.

“It would not have been reasonable to expect Avanti to make a job for her.”