![\"Ozgul](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/100969573-14975795-Ozgul_Coban_pictured_had_been_in_the_job_for_just_eight_weeks_wh-m-16_17544816297.jpeg\")
<\/p>\nAn accountancy firm worker with Crohn’s disease has won more than \u00a322,000 in a discrimination claim after her boss said the company needed to ‘chart a different path’ when she needed time off for treatment.<\/p>\n
Ozgul Coban had been in the job for just eight weeks when Alper Ozcelyan messaged her to say he needed ‘continuity’ in the office, an employment tribunal heard.<\/p>\n
If she was going to be ‘on and off’, he said, they should talk about ‘charting a different path’.<\/p>\n
The admin worker had been off for between six and eight days across the two-month period due to the inflammatory bowel condition, the hearing was told.<\/p>\n
She took the comments from the senior manager to mean that he wanted her to quit her job and told him ‘as you wish’.<\/p>\n
Mrs Coban has now successfully sued firm Manes Partners and director Mr Ozcelyan for disability discrimination.<\/p>\n
A tribunal found there was ‘no consideration’ of adjustments that could have helped Mrs Coban stay in her job and that a non-disabled colleague would not have been treated in the same way.<\/p>\n
She has been awarded \u00a322,716 in compensation.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Ozgul Coban (pictured) had been in the job for just eight weeks when Alper Ozcelyan messaged her to say he needed ‘continuity’ in the office, an employment tribunal heard<\/p>\n
Mrs Coban began working for Manes Partners in September 2021 as an account’s assistant and administrator, a hearing in Cambridge was told.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Throughout the interview process she was open about having Crohn’s, a form of inflammatory bowel disease where the intestines, mouth and oesophagus can become irritated and ulcers can form, suffered by about 500,000 people in the UK.<\/p>\n
Mrs Coban told the tribunal she receives regular Infliximab treatments, an IV infusion that suppresses the immune system, and without them she would develop ‘excruciating ulcers’.<\/p>\n
In November she informed Mr Ozceylan she had a treatment the next day and he was initially sympathetic, telling her to ‘get well soon’.<\/p>\n
However, four minutes later he messaged her to say he ‘felt sorry’ for her illness but he had a ‘business to run’.<\/p>\n
Over a series of texts Mr Ozceylan told the manager he had to ‘rely’ on someone, had shown ‘endless understanding’, and that if she was going to be ‘on and off’ they should talk about ‘charting a different path’.<\/p>\n
She responded, ‘I think you want me to leave the job’ and then in a follow up ‘as you wish’.<\/p>\n
He said the company would ‘maybe consider [her] being part-time’ but added ‘we can part ways at the end of this month’.<\/p>\n
![\"Alper](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/100969577-14975795-image-a-5_1754481426621.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Alper Ozcelyan (pictured) messaged Mrs Coban to say it she was going to be ‘on and off’ they should talk about ‘charting a different path’, a tribunal heard<\/p>\n
What is Crohn’s disease?\u00a0 <\/p>\n
Crohn’s disease is an inflammatory bowel disease that causes painful swelling and redness (inflammation) inside the digestive tract<\/p>\n
Common symptoms include diarrhoea, abdominal pain and cramping, reduced appetite and weight loss<\/p>\n
Symptoms tend to vary between individuals and come and go over time, as the inflammation flares up then eases again<\/p>\n
Source: Healthdirect<\/p>\n
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Mrs Coban then asked for a reference and clarified she had not been off for eight days, as he had claimed earlier in their conversation, and had the details of her absences noted down.<\/p>\n
Mr Ozceylan conceded, replying ‘not eight but seven, or 6.5’, but added it didn’t ‘change the essence’ of the issue.<\/p>\n
The tribunal found Manes Partners had no sickness absence policy and that Mrs Coban was never given the terms of her employment in writing.<\/p>\n
They also concluded the message about ‘charting a different path’ disadvantaged the administrator because there was ‘no consideration’ of adjustments that could have been made.<\/p>\n
Employment Judge Rebecca Freshwater said: ‘They put [Mrs Coban] at a disadvantage because she was faced with a change to her working arrangements, without any formal discussion or consideration of what allowances or adjustments could be made.<\/p>\n
‘Indeed, surprisingly, there was no policy or procedure in place about any of this.<\/p>\n
‘[She] had never received a written contract of employment or any document setting out the terms and conditions under which she was employed.<\/p>\n
‘The unfavourable treatment occurred because of the claimant’s absence from work to have Infliximab treatment. Her absence was due to her disability…<\/p>\n
‘There was no real attempt to discuss the impact of the claimant’s condition or effort to put in place measures which might enable her to work her hours and ensure optimal and efficient deployment of staff.’<\/p>\n
However, Mrs Coban lost her case for harassment because while the tribunal found Mr Ozceylan’s messages to be ‘unwise and insensitive’ they did not violate her dignity.<\/p>\n
Speaking after the tribunal, the administrator said she had cried for a month after losing her job and was made to feel ‘incapable’.<\/p>\n
Mrs Coban said: ‘I don’t want anyone else to go through this.<\/p>\n
‘He undermined me so badly as a woman, I was feeling like I was incapable of doing my job.<\/p>\n
‘He hurt my feelings…I cried for a month because of this and I was going through my health problems.’<\/p>\n
She now works in the finance department of a large company.<\/p>\n
Daily Mail has approached\u00a0Manes Partners for comment.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An accountancy firm worker with Crohn’s disease has won more than \u00a322,000 in a discrimination claim after her…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":48059,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[1190,97,59,50,86,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-48058","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-technology","8":"tag-cambridge","9":"tag-dailymail","10":"tag-gb","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-technology","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom","15":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48058","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48058"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48058\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48059"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48058"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48058"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48058"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}