Stephanie Rigby, a 24-year-old mother of one who is also pregnant with her second child, had her benefits cut because she had a seizure when she was meant to be attending an assessment.
Ms Rigby’s family claimed that an officer representing the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) said that her seizure should have been recorded, in order to provide evidence to support her explanation for missing the appointment.
However, the DWP and Atos, which formerly dealt with Employment and Support Allowance cases, claimed to have no record of any unfair treatment towards Ms Rigby, but they highlighted that she had failed to provide any evidence for her claim.
A spokesperson for Atos also added that it was not a part of their employees’ job descriptions to enquire about missed assessments.
Ms Rigby said: “I have suffered from epilepsy for 20 years and had an attack on the day I was due to go for an ESA assessment.
“They make me very ill and I have to go to bed for most of the day to recover.
“They have happened more often recently because I’m pregnant.
“We informed DWP and were told we would need to provide a doctor’s note to explain why I missed it and that’s what we’ve done.”
She also said that she was made to feel like “officers were laughing at her” and handling her with a lack of respect.
Ms Rigby is since believed to have sent medical notes to the DWP from her doctor, via fax, in an attempt to resolve the issue.