Disability discrimination | Deaf man seeking work awarded £50k after years of mistreatment by Jobcentre officials

A deaf man has been awarded nearly £50,000 by an employment tribunal after suffering years of mistreatment by Jobcentre officials.

Paul Rimmer is profoundly deaf and his first language is British Sign Language (BSL). He has no spoken English and only very basic reading and writing ability. A tribunal heard that he 

He had been attending a Job Centre Plus in Park Place, Leeds as part of the requirements for receipt of Job Seeker’s Allowance and to find work. 

But a tribunal heard that, between 2017 and 2023, the Jobcentre repeatedly failed to provide Mr Rimmer with the support he needed to properly seek employment, such as BSL interpreters or access to video calls.