A BROMSGROVE woman who lost some of her sight and was disfigured after ammonia was thrown in her face, complained she was unfairly dismissed by British Telecom (BT).

The attack on Jane Noble of Dodford Road, Bourneheath, badly injured her right eye causing her sight to deteriorate, Birmingham Employment Tribunal was told.

She was later categorised as disabled and started working for BT which involved driving a vehicle.

But she said BT eventually accused her of being unfit to drive, and she believed she was later unfairly dismissed.

“I suffered discrimination at work ever since the attack which damaged my eyesight and left me disfigured,” said Mrs Noble in her witness statement.

She pointed out that she had had a clean disciplinary record until she lost her job.

Mrs Noble created a non trading company for the ownership of horses during her BT employment, and said this had not affected her BT job.

“The company never traded and I was never employed by it,” she said.

She accused BT of disability discrimination by failing to make adjustments to help her cope with her deteriorating eyesight.

The tribunal was told, in Mrs Noble’s statement, that both the occupational health and an ophthalmic surgeon agreed she was fit to drive “per se, although she could not drive for as much as her BT role required.”

She said the DVLA had been informed and had not been concerned about the situation.

She had been advised to change her BT role at one stage, it was said.

Mrs Noble also said she eventually needed specialised lenses which BT, allegedly, refused to fund because they were alleged to have said that they were not needed for work.

“BT was looking for a way of managing me out of the business because of sickness absences and my need for adjustments for my deteriorating eyesight,” her statement said.

BT opposed Mrs Noble’s claims, saying the company tried to help her.

BT added Mrs Noble had failed to act within its best interests, and accused her of breaching the company’s security policy regarding the use of emails.

Tribunal judge Mr Rohan Priani is to make a decision at a later date.