Discriminatory bosses are ordered to attend training

An employment tribunal has told three senior managers at Virgin Cross Country Trains to attend training in disability rights law.

The order follows train driver Martyn Hazelhurst's £41,000 award for disability discrimination by Virgin. The company had failed to make adjustments allowing Hazlehurst to return to work on light duties after he sustained an injury in a train crash caused by a lorry on an open level crossing.

Additionally, Virgin must:

* pay Hazlehurst's basic salary until he can return to driving duties, is certified unfit for any duties or starts a suitable new job with Virgin;

* inform him of all vacancies at the Plymouth and Bristol depots that are not safety-critical; and

* consider what reasonable adjustments could be made so that a job is suitable for him.

The £41,000 award for loss of earnings and injury to feelings included an amount for "aggravated damages", reflecting Virgin's handling of the case; the company had not told the tribunal that the head of occupational health, a key witness, was unable to attend the hearing.

Hazelhurst's claim was supported by rail union ASLEF. General secretary Keith Norman commented: "It is a measure of the lack of respect employers have for the law that they need to have their attention drawn to it by a court."