BT's Treatment of diabetic worker was discriminatory

Telecoms giant BT's actions towards a diabetic employee - including denying him time away from his desk and placing him on a performance review - have been branded "inexcusable" by an employment tribunal.

Because BT customer service adviser Mr Pousson is diabetic, he needed to test his blood sugar levels throughout the day, inject insulin and eat or drink to balance his levels.

However, his employers did nothing to allow him to do so: his managers objected to him leaving his desk, and his colleagues objected to him testing and injecting himself at his desk.

Pousson was also put onto a performance review plan, even though BT had evidence from two of its own occupational health advisers that his attendance and work performance were affected by his medical condition.

As a result of the pressure on him not to leave his desk, on one occasion Pousson had a hypoglycaemic reaction, during which he fell and suffered a head injury.

The tribunal found that BT's behaviour amounted to disability discrimination - a ruling subsequently upheld by the Employment Appeal Tribunal. The company had failed to make any adjustments to accommodate Pousson's disability, and had treated him less favourably by applying the performance procedure to him when it had been told that his poor performance was for a reason related to his disability.

BT v Pousson UKEAT/0347/04