A former flight attendant has won a discrimination case against British Airways after they sacked her for being too anxious to fly. What next? A vet scared of animals?

Jennifer Clifford sued BA, her employer of almost 40 years, for disability discrimination and unfair dismissal after her manager allegedly downplayed her mental health condition as ‘just a little bit of anxiety.’

A judge at an employment tribunal in Reading, Berkshire, claimed Clifford should have been given more credit and understanding due to her long service with the airline, and should have been offered a role that didn’t involve flying.

The saga began during the pandemic when Clifford was placed on furlough and sick leave when she began experiencing stress and depression. From that point on, she was declared unfit to fly.

It’s worth noting that Clifford had worked for BA since 1983 (!), serving as an air steward and inflight manager, and never took a single sick day on that period. Pretty impressive.

In August 2020 she was told she was being made redundant, but was then offered a role as cabin crew (two grades below her previous rank), before being placed on furlough and then sick leave due to depression and work-related stress.

By September 2022, Clifford was told that unless she made herself fit to fly, a termination date would be set for her to lose her job.

Her manager at this time, Nigel Landy, reportedly described her condition ‘just a little bit of anxiety,’ advising Clifford that ‘if you don’t like working here, then leave.’

Employment Judge Emma Hawksworths said:

‘Ms Clifford needed a phased return in a ground duties placement before returning to her full contractual flying role.

‘That was because of the need to rebuild her confidence and to give time to adjust to working again, and these requirements arose from her disability.

‘She remained unable, because of anxiety and depression, to return to her flying role when required to do so by [British Airways] at the end of the resourcing and recruitment placement.

‘Mr Landy telling [Ms Clifford] she had ‘just a little bit of anxiety’ was clumsy and suggested to [Ms Clifford] that he was minimising her condition. It came across as an attempt to dismiss how she was feeling.

‘[Ms Clifford] had very long service with [BA]. She had had a lengthy period of absence from work, in part because of things for which she was not responsible: a long period of furlough and a long period when the respondent was considering her grievance.

‘A reasonable employer would have given her a longer and more suitable phased return and would, in line with its policy, have considered redeployment to a ground based role before deciding to dismiss her.’

Clifford had also filed an additional claim for sex discrimination, but that was dismissed. Can’t win them all, eh? Still, she’ll be happy with the overall result and whatever compensation is coming her way (no details on the amount yet).

Reading the details of the situation, it does sound like Clifford was treated unfairly, especially given she had worked with BA for four decades.

I mean, you would expect them to be a little more flexible after 40 years of service; may put her at check-in or the customer service desk instead of giving her the boot. Especially as she’s never taken sick leave in all that time! Where’s the loyalty to your long-serving employees?

Well anyway, lesson learned from BA on that front. Enjoy your compo, Ms Clifford. Don’t spend it all at once…

For the BA pilot who snorted coke off a woman’s breasts before an 11-hour flight, click HERE.