University worker wins £51,000 disability payout after misgendering trans colleague

University worker wins £51,000 disability payout after misgendering trans colleague Karenne Sylvester misgendered her colleague because she has dyspraxia, tribunal rules - Bookmark A university worker has been awarded over £51,000 in a disability discrimination case after her employer failed to account for her short-term memory issues when she misgendered a transgender colleague. Karenne Sylvester, 56, was found to have "harassed" a trans colleague following an investigation by the University of Manchester. An employment tribunal heard that Ms Sylvester "persistently" used incorrect pronouns for the colleague, a trans man, making him cry several times. Ms Sylvester, who has dyspraxia, said that her condition led to “short term memory problems”, making it difficult for her to consistently use the correct pronouns after her co-worker's transition. Despite challenging the university's harassment finding, she was transferred to a different team, a move she claimed "sabotaged" her career. She has now successfully sued the university for disability discrimination, winning a payout of £51,223. The employment tribunal concluded that managers investigating the harassment claim against her chose to “ignore” that her disability was likely the reason for her misgendering her colleague. The tribunal, held in Manchester, heard that Ms Sylvester has been employed as a learning technologist for the university since December 2018. On her disability, the tribunal was told: “Dyspraxia is usually associated with problems with physical coordination but has much broader and complex characteristics. “It is a condition that affects the way that the brain processes and transmits information and it is a lifelong condition. ”[Ms Sylvester] received a diagnosis of dyspraxia when she was aged 42 in November 2011, at a point when she was a student at the university.” Ms Sylvester's transgender colleague was referred to by the tribunal only as CD. He transitioned in 3032 or 2022. Ms Sylvester met CD in the summer of 2022, and by the autumn of that year she knew he had transitioned. On the misgendering incident which took place in February 2023, the tribunal was told: "[Ms Sylvester] used the incorrect pronoun for CD. CD corrected [Ms Sylvester]. "[Ms Sylvester] apologised to CD, making a comment suggesting she would probably misgender CD in the future and was apologising for future occasions as well. "[Colleague] Rebecca Oldfield made it clear that [Ms Sylvester] should not misgender CD at all in the future. "Everyone went back to working. CD was later found crying. "[Ms Sylvester] tried to speak to CD later, but he did not want to speak to her." Following the incident, Ms Sylvester was told that she could not have any “physical interaction with the rest of her team, who all worked in the shared open plan workspace along with 40 or so other staff”, the tribunal heard. She had to book a back room on the same floor when she worked on the university's campus, to make sure that she “did not risk coming into contact with CD”. In a meeting about the incident in March, Ms Sylvester told investigators from the Faculty of Humanities, Stuart Phillipson and Martin Banks, that “her dyspraxia made it more difficult for her to gender CD correctly”, the tribunal heard. Read more: What is dyspraxia? The brain condition often dismissed as clumsiness E-learning manager Mr Phillipson and lead people partner Mr Banks nonetheless found that she had “persistently used the incorrect pronoun over a period of time” and had “unlawfully harassed CD”. She appealed against this finding, and the appeal hearing was held in September 2023. Again, it was found that she had harassed CD. Ms Sylvester was transferred to a different team in September 2024 – a move that she said “sabotaged” both her career and her academic intentions. She had intended to do a PhD by Publication, but “no longer has access to the relevant academics who could support this activity”, she claimed. She was told in October 2024 that she would not face disciplinary proceedings for the harassment of CD. The tribunal found that the appeal panel carried out some “sloppy work”, and failed to do some “basic due diligence”. Employment Judge Zoe Thompson said: “Having weighed all the evidence, we find that on balance the reason why [Ms Sylvester] had used the incorrect pronoun on this and previous occasions was because of her dyspraxia. “Her dyspraxia affected her short-term memory, meaning it took longer for her to consistently adopt the correct pronouns compared to a neurotypical person.” The judge said that investigators found Ms Sylvester had harassed her colleague because of a situation arising from her disability, and they were “personally liable” for her discrimination claims. Judge Thompson added: “We find that [Mr Phillipson and Mr Banks] were aware that [Ms Sylvester] was raising her dyspraxia as the likely reason why she misgendered CD and they chose to ignore that. “We find that they did not conduct a fair or impartial investigation and then provided incorrect information to the appeal panel.” Ms Sylvester’s other claims were unsuccessful.