Bailiff loses support dog discrimination case

A bailiff who resigned after being told she could not take her emotional support dog on jobs has lost her case for discrimination.

Deborah Cullingford, who worked in the Leeds area, told a tribunal she took her miniature Yorkshire Terrier, Bella, on her debt collecting rounds to ease her stress.

Ms Cullingford, who had suffered with three bouts of cancer, told the tribunal the dog had been the reason she "did not end her life when she felt depressed and could barely face the day".

However, the judge ruled her managers had "legitimate concerns" around vehicle security, and the risk of the dog escaping and interacting with the public.

Ms Cullingford had worked as a bailiff since 2010 before getting Bella a decade later, the tribunal heard.

In 2021, she was diagnosed with cancer for a third time and was on sick leave for nearly three months before returning to work full-time the following year.

However, when colleagues spotted Bella in Ms Cullingford's car they banned her from taking the dog to work as she was not a guide dog.

Ms Cullingford claimed anxiety was a feature of her cancer disability and that Bella acted as an emotional support animal.

She later resigned and accused the Ministry of Justice of disability discrimination by failing to make "reasonable adjustments" for her position.

At a tribunal Judge Rebecca Eeley dismissed her claim.

The judge acknowledged it had been "a difficult and distressing time" for Ms Cullingford and at times her bosses "did not evidence the kind of care and compassion that the tribunal might have expected to see in a case of this sort".

However, she said the bailiff's managers concerns were "legitimate" in terms of "confidentiality, security of the vehicle, health and safety, risk of escape or interaction with the public."

She added: "We would consider it not to be a reasonable adjustment in the circumstances of this case".

Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North or tell us a story you think we should be covering here.