The UN accuses the Interior of discriminating against a ‘mosso’ because of his disability

He has been fighting for years for the Conselleria d’Interior grants the pass to the second activity in a non-police job. In 2004the National Social Security Institute (INSS) declared his total permanent disability to work as an agent of the Mossos d’Esquadra due to a mental illness. As a consequence of this decision, he lost his place in the force. At that time, there was no regulation that allowed you to be a non-police support technician, with administrative tasksin a position adapted to your needs, but, In 2008, the legal situation changed with new regulations.

The former police officer requested his reinstatement to non-police duties and the ‘department’ denied it

He then requested his reinstatement but the Generalitat rejected it. Now him UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities He maintains in an opinion, to which EL PERIÓDICO has had access, that this former police officer has been discriminated against due to his disability. With this argument, the former agent has once again brought his case to court and is once again demanding that the second activity be granted. The Barcelona Prosecutor’s Office supports for the claim to be processed.

The UN recommends that the Generalitat adopt the “appropriate measures to establish a dialogue” with the former police officer

MRV is 62 years old and worked as a ‘mosso’ until he was diagnosed with a disorder. This ailment caused the INSS to grant him disability. He could not do anything to continue as an official in the body. After a few years, the Ministry of the Interior informed him of the entry into force of the decree that regulates the situation of second activity in the Generalitat police. He then thought that the door was open for him to request that category and thus be able to do technical support and administrative work. For this reason, he requested to return to work in 2009.

The State “has the obligation to adopt measures to prevent similar violations from occurring in the future”

However, the Health Surveillance Unit issued a report in which it was not considered “advisable” for the ‘mosso’ to carry out support tasks within the scope of the General Directorate of the Police of the Generalitat due to the “possibility of aggravation of their state”, when they coincide at the workplace with police personnel. As a result of this ruling, the Interior rejected the petition. MRV went to court and insisted that there were positions outside the General Directorate of the Police that he could occupy. His attempts before the judges fell on deaf ears.

In the end, he addressed the UN committee, which agreed with him and ruled that the State “has failed to comply with its obligations”, while recommending that the Administration, in this case the Catalan one, adopt the “measures appropriate to engage in dialogue” with the former police officer “in order to evaluate the capabilities he could have in a second activity or other complementary activities”, including “any reasonable adjustments that may be required”.

Avoid similar situations

The resolution goes further: the State, it states, “has the obligation to adopt measures to prevent similar violations from occurring in the future.” The UN committee advises that the decree that regulates the second activity in the body be adapted both to the recommendations of its opinion and to the principles of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities so that officials who request it are ” evaluated within a dialogue process”.

The UN maintains that the convention has been breached. Specifically, he estimates that there has been violated article 27 which requires the State to recognize the right of people with disabilities to “maintain their employment, on equal terms with others”, to adopt measures, “including legislative”, to prohibit discrimination in the continuity of work and to “ensure” for making “reasonable” adjustments in favor of people who acquire the disability during their professional work.

“The committee considers that, in the present case, the discrimination in relation to continuity in employment derives from the rejection of his request to move to the second activity without seriously evaluating the application of reasonable adjustments” through “a process of dialogue,” says the opinion.

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The disability ratings made by the INSS to the ‘mosso’ and the medical report made after requesting reinstatement “do not focus” on the potential that the former police officer could have had in the development of the second activity or other complementary tasks, and that They should determine “with greater precision the reasonable adjustments to be made in their case,” the UN emphasizes.

The opinion also points out that the report from the Health Surveillance Unit used “subjective criteria” when stating that it did not consider the exercise of support tasks “advisable”, due to the possibility of aggravation of their health status.

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