Anxious remote worker wins lawsuit after company forced her to turn camera on during video call

She’s refused to be on screen.Now, she’s raking in the green.  Money will soon be zooming to Laura Tait’s front door as the “anxious” work-from-home travel consultant has successfully sued her ex-employer for forcing her to be on camera during a business video call, infringing on her disability rights. An employment tribunal, held in South London, recently ruled Tait’s former company, Holiday Extras, a vacation ancillary service, failed to adequately provide “reasonable adjustments” to suit her anxiety, including the “ability to join meetings with camera off” and allowing her to do fewer voice calls during the workday, per reports. The court has deemed the misstep a form of disability discrimination under UK employment law, awarding Tait an undetermined amount in compensation.  The remote travel pro, who was hired with Holiday Extras’ call center in June 2021, reportedly informed the job that work-induced stress had triggered a string of “absences related to her anxiety” by April 2022.

The reoccurring absences continued until Tait officially requested “emergency time off” due to “burn out.”In July 2023, the struggling staffer told a new line manager that “the only thing that would help her” would be to undertake more live chat and email shifts, rather than telephone or video call duties — even though her role required frequent customer service calls. Executives allegedly told Tait she “could not be scheduled more chats and emails than average due to fairness and workloads,” but would be accommodated wherever possible.Unfortunately, the seemingly sweet deal was shortlived. During a remote training session on August 24, 2023, Tait reportedly felt “super anxious” and requested permission to remain off camera for the meeting.Despite the plea, she was “asked to start with it on and to see how she went.”“However, she was not able to cope and so she was told that was fine and to log off.”Tait was ultimately ...