A woman paralysed in the Manchester Arena bombing was told she was being made redundant by her law firm – on the same day doctors said she may never walk again.
Julie Thomas is confined to a wheelchair after being just yards from terrorist Salman Abedi when he detonated his explosive device as thousands of fans were leaving an Ariana Grande concert in May.
Ms Thomas, 34, who spotted Abedi in the moments before the blast, had to undergo three rounds of surgery to remove the shrapnel and bolts that penetrated her body.
Julie Thomas was paralysed in the Manchester Arena bombing. Earlier this month she was told she was being made redundant by her law firm
Julie Thomas is confined to a wheelchair after being just yards from Salman Abedi when he detonated his explosive device as thousands of fans were leaving a concert in Manchester
Ms Thomas had to undergo three rounds of surgery to remove shrapnel from her body. Doctors have told her she may never walk again
And earlier this month, on the same day doctors delivered the devastating news she may never walk again, conveyancing executive Ms Thomas, who is signed off sick until October, was told her job with Dickinson Parker Hill solicitors is being made redundant, reports the Daily Mirror.
She said: ‘I was in tears.
‘It was the trauma of what the doctor said along with this message, which was effectively sacking me. None of this was my fault. I just went to a concert with a friend to enjoy myself.’
Ms Thomas, from Liverpool, resigned from her job after feeling that she had no other option and is now bringing a constructive dismissal and discrimination case against the firm.
She claims the company began asking her when she could come back to work as she lay in a hospital bed at Manchester Royal Infirmary, just nine days after the terror attack.
But it was earlier this month when she was told her position had effectively been made redundant, with an offer to pay up her four weeks’ notice.
Ms Thomas has resigned from Dickinson Parker Hill solicitors in Ormskirk, Lancashire, and is bringing a case of constructive dismissal against them
Ms Thomas’ sister Carla (left), a Labour councillor and disability campaigner, said employers treat people differently if they are disabled
Ms Thomas claims she was told that should she come back, the company’s office building in Ormskirk, Lancashire, would cause her problems
Ms Thomas was sent a letter from the firm which stated her position could not be kept open in the long term and that they believed six months was sufficient sick leave.
She was even told that should she come back, the company’s office building in Ormskirk, Lancashire, would cause her problems.
The nearest disabled toilet is in a nearby pub, it is claimed.
Ms Thomas, who said she loved her job, now feels hounded by the company and has vowed to never go back.
A woman paralysed in the Manchester Arena bombing was told she was being made redundant by her law firm – on the same day doctors told her she may never walk again (file picture)
Julie Thomas is confined to a wheelchair after being just yards from terrorist Salman Abedi (pictured) when he detonated his explosive device after an Ariana Grande concert in May
Since the blast she still has no feeling in her leg and even gave herself third degree burns when she was too close to an open oven without realising.
Ms Thomas’ sister Carla, a Labour councillor and disability campaigner, said employers treat people differently if they are disabled.
Ms Thomas was at Manchester Arena with a friend and her daughter and is determined to walk again.
When approached by the Mirror, Dickinson Parker Hill declined to comment but it is understood they reject Ms Thomas’ claims.