Mother of disabled son in bias claim

A FORMER employee with one of Scotland's top law firms has claimed she was discriminated against because she took time off to care for disabled son.

Teri McCue said she was "isolated" from colleagues when she returned to her part-time typist job at Ross Harper Solicitors in Glasgow.

The mother of two told a preliminary hearing, ahead of a potential employment tribunal, that when she returned to work, in December 2008, she was forced to sit alone because her employers were unhappy with the time she had needed to care for her son.

The hearing in Glasgow was told how Miss McCue was separated by filing cabinets and sat at the other end of the office away from colleagues.

Her solicitor Gerard Nesbitt said it was accepted the law firm had accommodated her childcare, but claimed she was offered no reason why she had been moved desks.

Margaret Gribbon, representing the law firm, said it had "bent over backwards" for Miss McCue.

Employment judge Jane Garvie will decide later the if the case should go to a full tribunal.