The Ghent Employment Tribunal has ordered a business to pay 22,000 euros in damages to an employee with cancer, whom the business made redundant. This is being reported by VRT today (Wednesday). The claimant was supported by UNIA, the Inter-federal Centre for Equal Opportunities.
“Everyone knows that sex, race and age-based discrimination are prohibited and can legally lead to an award of damages,” Els Keytsman, the Co-director of UNIA explained.
She went on, “However, what is often ignored is the fact that a person's state of health is also protected under the auspices of the legislation. Nobody can be legally made redundant because of illness.”
In the redundancy letter addressed to the claimant, the employer asserted that under employment legislation a long-term absence placed at risk the employee's “continuous service” with the organisation.
The Brussels Times
