A REDDITCH former administration employee has been told she can go ahead with claims for constructive unfair dismissal and disability discrimination against a housing association after suffering from a stomach disorder.

Lucy Mosedale of Mount Pleasant, Redditch, had been employed by Midland Heart Ltd, a Birmingham based housing association.

The association is reputed to be among the largest housing and care organisations in the country.

Miss Mosedale was told at Birmingham Employment Tribunal that tribunal judge Pam Hughes had to first declare if Miss Mosedale was disabled before deciding whether she could go ahead with her disability claim.

Nathaniel Kane, representing the respondents, said the firm opposed Miss Mosedale’s disability discrimination claim because they questioned whether her condition was serious enough to affect her day-to-day working abilities.

Miss Mosedale complained that she had to take pain killers and that on some days she was “doubled over in agony on the bathroom floor.”

She said she was too ill to attend work on some occasions and accused the firm of failing to make adjustments to help her cope with her disability.

“Working from home and flexible working times would have helped,” said Miss Mosedale who had been employed by the firm for four years.

“I felt I couldn't cope anymore because the firm did not help me.”

She was near to tears as she told Mrs Hughes: “ I have had acupuncture and other treatments but the stress at work has made the condition worse.”

Miss Mosedale denied an accusation by Mr Kane that she had exaggerated the seriousness of her condition.

The tribunal was told that the situation at work had caused Miss Mosedale to resign from the firm – prompting her legal claim for constructive unfair dismissal.

Mrs Hughes eventually announced that Miss Mosedale had a disability and that she could go ahead with her legal claims for disability discrimination and constructive unfair dismissal at a full tribunal hearing later this year.