STEPHEN FRY

Loona, his forum name is a reference to this cultural icon of American and British processed food.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jolly_Green_Giant

And a reference to my height (6'10") as well as my environmental attitudes, i do voluntry work with a uk based recycling group - oh, and i also like sweetcorn

Hi,

I've had BP for around 20 years, I'm 34 now.

I've had several major episodes which have crippled my career several times over.

I had a strong episode last year which resulted in hospitalisation. This time though, I got to the point where I didn't feel I either could or should conceal the truth about my mental state from my work any longer.

Firstly, I told my immediate bosses, who I felt I could trust. Although they struggled to understand it, they did defend me and probably secured my job when I was most vulnerable.

Then some months later, having been reassured by the result of the first disclosure, I disclosed again when the business I was working for was taken over by another company.

What I have found is that even people who don't understand or you may have thought hold prejudices, will react well. But you have to be brutally honest.

I think the key factor is whether or not you are actively seeking treatment. If not, I think I can understand why bosses may misunderstand and discriminate against a sufferer. Making it clear you're getting help makes it easier for the employer in general. If nothing else, giving you time off for treatment gives them the feeling they are doing their bit to help.

There's much in the truism "Honesty os the best policy"

It`s an interesting question...I struggled for a longtime with `revolving diagnosis syndrome` and as a result, was not comfortable disclosing anything (hi, it`s Tuesday, I have schizophrenia...hello, it`s Wednesday, I have Asperger`s...ah, finally its Friday and they`ve finally gotten it right: it`s bipolar!)

I have had a BP diagnosis and adequate treatment for about a decade now, and have been òut`at work for about 5 years...I work with youth at risk (hate that term!) in schools and community, and It`s never been an issue. The trick for me is having enough people around me (both work and personal life) who can tell me when I am becoming symptomatic...

I wonder what would happen in my case.

Have never been dignosed with any kind of depression, but then I haven't gone out of my way to tell my doctor or anyone in that kind of field.

My point is, if I even suspect that I am suffering from depression and because I don't put it on a job application form, would I suffer if they offered me a job, but found out afterwards.

Roxy641

Disability Discrimination Law (UK)

Hi guys

I just came across a really interesting update to UK discrimination law (this is a House of Lords decision, I'm not sure how it holds across the rest of the EU).

Ages ago (I forget the year and name of the case, I'll try to update when I get home and check my notes) there was an employment case where it was held (by the Court of Appeal, I think) that the correct comparator for someone who was claiming less favourable treatment under the DDA was either an individual in the same circumstances but not disabled had been treated differently, or an individual who was not in the same circumstances (e.g. in a case where a disabled employee was dismissed for being off sick too much, you could use either a not-disabled employee with the same sickness absence who was not dismissed, or a not-disabled employee who did not have the same sickness absence record who was not dismissed). It was also held that if a disability was undisclosed, in certain circumstances the onus was on the employer, not the employee, to consider/investigate whether or not a case might involve disability.

In London Borough of Lewisham v Malcolm (2008), the appeal was taken to the House of Lords and everything has changed. This is a housing issue, not an employment one, but the Lords decision will apply across the board. LBL v Malcolm involved a chap who sublet his council flat and, when it was repossessed by the Borough Council, claimed he had done it because he was schizophrenic and claimed less favourable treatment. The Court of Appeal ruled in his favour because he could either be compared with someone not-disabled who had sublet their flat and not had it repossessed (of which there was not one) or someone who had not sublet their flat and who had not had their flat repossesed.

The Lords ruled that this was a daft comparison (they used longer words though) and established that the 2 comparator model is wrong, and henceforth any claim of less favourable treatment must have a comparator who is in comparable circumstances with a cause other than disability, and has been treated differently. They also ruled that it is necessary for disability to have been disclosed to the body making adjustments in order for reasonable adjustments to be made.*

The point of all this legal rambling is that a disabled person used to be able to bring a claim of less favourable treatment comparing themselves to someone who was not in their same exact situation. This is no longer the case and although I haven't seen any employment cases yet (I'm not sure if there have been any, I'm behind on my reading) it can be reasonably expected that no claim of less favourable treatment on the grounds of disability will be upheld unless you can compare yourself with someone who is in the same circumstances as you, but who is not disabled, to whom different treatment has been applied.**

The end of a very long ramble, then, is that proving less favourable treatment on the grounds of disability has just become a damn sight harder than it used to be. IMO it's the right decision, but it does mean that your laywer may have to work harder, if you ever decide to go down that route.

PS Sorry for the ramble. I just thought it was worth putting this here, as most legal texts won't have this case yet.



*If you have been off repeatedly citing the same cause for over a year, the time frame is long enough that any HR manager should know that you qualify for disability, but this hasn't been tested. If in doubt disclosure to the appropriate member of the HR department or your manager really is the way to go if you're going to ask for reasonable adjustments.

**This of course applies to any area of law touched by the DDA, but employment is my area.

Just a link to a topic discussing my experiences with illness and work so that it's here when the original thread sinks;

http://www.stephenfry.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4969

much love
mp xxxx

I work at a school as a Learning Mentor and I haven't said anything yet. I wouldn't say being bipolar directly affects my job so I hadn't thought it was necessary. But I am worried that when I get bad (has happened a few times before) and get ill as a result (whether it be real or psychological) and miss work, I might get sacked or get a bad record. If I tell them, though, I'm scared they then might say I'm not suitable because I'm not reliable. Or that they might think I'm "just having an episode" when I might really be ill. I think people don't take bipolar people seriously, does anyone agree?.