Have You Encountered A Professional Victim?

We all know that there are enough cases of real discrimination and harassment in the workplace to keep all of us busy all of the time.  Which is why blogs such as this exist – to advise employers about the many complex anti-discrimination laws and about best and compliant practices to avoid such cases. 

And you all likely know the person who is an abuser of the system: a professional claimant (a/k/a a professional victim), who serially files meritless case after case.  Or actively seeks out for profit ways to file claims and cases of marginal or no merit. He makes everyone cynical about the anti-discrimination laws and the court system.  And he does a disservice to those who have legitimate claims. 

Now comes a person who was able to game and abuse the system – outrageously – and make a good living out of doing so. Probably more brazen than any you have encountered.

(NB: Please comment if you have a story to rival this one).

As reported from the UK, this particular fellow applied for 2,000 jobs a year, “many of which he was totally unqualified for, then claim[ed] compensation saying his ADHD and autism had been 'ignored'.  He even cried discrimination after being rejected for the job of top civil servant in the Northern Ireland agriculture ministry, with a budget of £335million and 900 staff, despite having no relevant qualifications or experience.”

This fellow lives with his partner in a £300,000 house and “also has properties in Belfast and Scotland and has amassed £35,000 in payouts.”

Is there nothing to be done about such a serial abuser of the system?

Well, yes. Sometimes.

A UK employment tribunal has ordered him to pay £20,000 in costs for his 'vexatious' claims.

What was this fellow’s method of doing business?  The UK judge explained that:

“one of the 50 job applications involved in the latest case – all made through [a single recruitment agency] – 'made clear' a requirement for a medical degree and background, which [this man] 'plainly did not have'. … [He] generally submitted a CV for his applications. When he was rejected on the basis of that CV, he claimed he was discriminated against when his requests for an oral interview were refused. He said his conditions, which also include dyspraxia, meant he came across poorly in writing, so under disability discrimination law he should have been able to make oral applications.”

The Court concluded, though, that “There was simply no evidence of discrimination.”

As I noted above, a person who defrauds the system helps only themselves and serves only to make everyone feel that the laws are unjust, and that there is no justice.

Takeaway

Sometimes – yes sometimes – there is justice.