A car crash victim has won a harassment claim after a colleague span round in her special new office chair while telling her she 'felt like Stephen Hawking'.

Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) work coach and car crash victim Alison McRobbie had been showing off a new office chair  designed to make her more comfortable to fellow staff member Josie Hooper, an employment tribunal heard.

But to her shock, her co-worker sat in the chair and made the 'unflattering' comparison to the world-famous physicist who was confined to a wheelchair for most of his life - while 'spinning round in it' and 'laughing'.

The work coach had requested a specialised chair from her employer as she suffered from arthritis and crepitus - cracking joints - in her right knee, right hand, and to her neck following a traffic accident in 2017.

The tribunal found that 'very sensitive' Miss McRobbie may have 'misunderstood' the incident but ruled that Ms Hooper had harassed her by the way her remark 'drew particular attention' to her disability.

She is now set to receive compensation from the government.

The tribunal, held in Southampton, heard Miss McRobbie started working for the DWP in the Universal Credit department in June 2021.

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Miss McRobbie was working from home, she was told a chair with a high back and a headrest had been requested.

After lengthy delays, the furniture was delivered and installed on October 12, 2022.

Referring to Miss McRobbie's witness statement, Employment Judge Catherine Rayner said: "She said that a colleague sat in her chair spinning round in it, laughing and saying I was going to look like Stephen Hawking in this chair.”

Ms Hooper told the tribunal that she 'did not remember the events very well' and could 'not definitely say that she had not made the comments'.

Judge Rayner added: "We have taken into account as set out above that [Miss McRobbie] had not been into the office for some time that she was known to be a person who was very sensitive and also that the comment itself drew particular attention to [her] disability.

"Whilst we all agree that most people would not find this to be offensive, we accept that it is reasonable for it to be treated as harassment in this case and we therefore find that [Miss McRobbie] was harassed."