A Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) work coach has been awarded £17,280 in compensation after an employment tribunal ruled that a colleague harassed her by comparing her to Stephen Hawking. Alison McRobbie, who suffers from arthritis and post-traumatic stress disorder following a car crash in 2017, brought the claim against the DWP after colleague Josie Hooper made the remark while trying out her new office chair.
The tribunal in Southampton heard that in October 2022, Ms McRobbie invited Ms Hooper to see her new chair, which had been provided as a reasonable adjustment for her disability. Ms Hooper sat in the chair and, while spinning around and laughing, said Ms McRobbie would “look like Stephen Hawking” in it. Ms McRobbie said Ms Hooper also mimicked the physicist’s disabled posture, though the tribunal found this part of her account was exaggerated.
Employment Judge Catherine Rayner ruled that the comment was unwanted and related to Ms McRobbie’s disability, constituting harassment. However, the tribunal noted that Ms McRobbie was “very sensitive” and that most people would not have found the remark offensive. It also ordered Ms McRobbie to pay £10,912 in costs after finding she had behaved unreasonably during proceedings.
Ms McRobbie, who now works as a social media influencer, was dismissed by the DWP in November 2025 for alleged gross misconduct. Her claims of unfair dismissal and other discrimination were dismissed, but the harassment claim and a separate claim for failure to make reasonable adjustments were upheld.
