Luxury hotel employee wins £200k after being made to work in cupboard

A worker at a luxury five-star hotel has been awarded more than £200,000 after she was made to handle the company’s payroll from inside a cupboard.

An employment tribunal heard that Roberta Ghiotto, who has ADHD , was told to complete a three-day payroll task "under pressure" without any prior training.

She was told to do the work from inside a cupboard after finding it difficult to concentrate in the busy office.

She was left "crying" after being informed that she would not be able to pass her probation period at the boutique Oxford hotel if she failed to complete it.

Ms Ghiotto was dismissed despite explaining to her employer that her ADHD made detail-oriented work far harder for her.

Reading Employment Tribunal has now ruled that she was "set up to fail".

She has won a claim for disability discrimination and a failure to make reasonable workplace adjustments, with a payout of £200,252 in compensation.

Ms Ghiotto worked as a talent and culture coordinator at the five-star Hawkwell House Hotel, in Iffley, Oxford, from October 2023 until her dismissal in March 2024.

The hotel is managed by the Accor Group, which operates roughly 6,000 hotels globally.

It is advertised as an "enchanting retreat" in a "picturesque village".

Ms Ghiotto was hired as maternity cover, and when she was taken on, there was no job description for her role, though she was referred to as human resources (HR), the tribunal heard.

She did not possess any formal HR qualifications or experience and was subject to a three-month probation period.

Part of her responsibilities included wellness, while approximately 25 per cent involved making the payroll, which she said she found to be considerably more difficult.

Ms Ghiotto informed her employers that she had ADHD and struggled to focus in a busy office while carrying out detail-oriented tasks.