An ecologist with a phobia of leaving home took her employer to court after she wasn’t invited to her office Christmas party.
Shelby Caughman, who has agoraphobia, filed a disability harassment lawsuit after she walked out of an eight-person event that caused her too much anxiety.
Ms Caughman was on sick leave at the time, partly due to her mental health, and said she was “too overwhelmed” to return to work until January.
Her case was thrown out at a tribunal in Scotland, as a judge ruled that purposefully excluding a colleague from a work program because they were worried was acceptable under UK employment law.
People with agoraphobia fear going out in crowded places, and are often afraid to leave their homes, travel on public transport and go to busy shopping centres.
Many mental states
The tribunal heard that Ms Caughman started working as a consultant ecologist for Ecos Ecology in April 2023, along with seven other colleagues.
She suffered from ADHD, autism, complex post-traumatic stress disorder and agoraphobia and alerted the company to her condition.
Ms. Kagman made several complaints to the company about the “build-up of job stress” and “lack of proper accommodations.”
In June 2024, she took a week off statutory sick pay after suffering from mental health problems. After this, she agreed to return to work in a phased manner.
Ms. Caughman went on sick leave in early July 2024, but did not return to work until her resignation in February 2025.
At this time, Echoes Ecology contacted her to see if she was well enough to return to work.
An occupational health report was drawn up which claimed Ms Caughman needed adjustments to flexible working hours and being able to work from home.
The report also states that she wants to be free from team meetings and social gatherings.
After preparing the report, Ms Caughman clarified that she did not agree with the wording about exemptions from meetings and social gatherings because she enjoyed social gatherings and “just wanted a choice”.
‘Congratulations’ on getting back to work
Although she was due to return to work in December, she said it left her feeling “overwhelmed” and discussed moving her return date to the New Year.
The company held a Christmas party in December, and decided not to invite Ms Kagman “so as not to create more anxiety”.
Ms Kagman sent an email regarding the invitation snub, saying the company thought it would be “insensitive” to invite her, but apologized if they had misinterpreted the situation.
The tribunal found that not inviting Ms Kagman to the Christmas party was discrimination, but it was a “reasonable” response to her comments about her agoraphobia.
Employment Judge Peter O’Donnell said: “[Echoes Ecology] Clearly there was a legitimate purpose in seeking to avoid the cause [Ms Caughman] The added pain of inviting her to an event where she doesn’t want to attend and is seen as not qualified to do so.
“The court accepts that it was not [Ms Caughman’s] He maintained that he did not want to be present on Christmas night but the tribunal also accepts that it was Ecoz Ecology’s genuine belief that he did not, even if it was wrong.
“There was a factual basis [Echoes Ecology’s] Belief in the contents of the OH report and there was nothing to contradict it.”
Ms. Caughman also unsuccessfully claimed for harassment, victimization, reasonable accommodation and constructive dismissal.
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