UK: Dyslexic woman wins disability discrimination case

An employment tribunal found that Starbucks discriminated against Meseret Kumulchew, a supervisor in one of its London stores.

Ms Kumulchew had responsibility for recording the temperature of fridges and water at specific times and entering that information in a duty roster.

However, after she made mistakes entering the information, she was accused of falsifying documents, given reduced responsibilities and ordered to retrain.

An employment tribunal has found that she was victimised as a result of her disability and her employer had failed to make reasonable adjustments for her under the Equality Act 2010.

Ms Kumulchew said she wanted more time to fully understand and become familiar with a task, and for someone to check her work for mistakes.

She told the BBC: “I’ll struggle, but don’t worry, help me and I’ll get there in my own time, at my own speed.

“I’m not going to affect your business, because for every customer I’ll roll out the red carpet.”

A separate hearing will be held in the next few weeks to determine the total compensation payment due by the coffeehouse chain.

A spokesperson for Starbucks said: “We are in ongoing discussions with this around specific workplace support and we are not able to comment on a case that has not yet been completed.”