My name's Jules.
I'm 47 and I live in South London. I've always been very confident
and bubbly personality, very outgoing.
I was an operations manager of a hotel. I had my whole career working in hotels.
I had a lot of responsibilities for the revenue of the manager
the staff training, customer care obviously,
and thoroughly enjoyed it.
I was diagnosed with breast cancer in November 2005 which was a shock.
I started chemotherapy straightaway
and work became awful.
I didn't want to stop working, I thought the best thing for me to do was to
work as long as I could
and I carried on working through my chemo
only having days off when I was actually having my treatment.
and I took holiday days off for my chemotherapy.
When I found out that I had to have reconstruction
and I went and told my line manager that obviously I
need time off. He said to me at the time,
"Was it possible to look like Dolly Parton?" "Would I be able to inflate my new boob?"
And I was absolutely devastated by his comments.
It was difficult enough
knowing that I was going to have this operation without insensitive comments like that.
I just ran into the ladies and I just cried my eyes out.
I didn't want anybody to see me that upset. I didn't want myself to see me like that.
But he just make me feel awful.
I returned to work as soon as I possibly could,
still unsure what my duties were.
I went to what was my previous desk that was filled by somebody else.
I went to speak to my manager. I asked him
what I was supposed to be doing, where would I be based.
He informed me that I would be working as a receptionist
for the time being until something else was sorted out.
Initially as a receptionist it was fine because I still having treatment from
the hospital. I could work shifts around hospital appointments so I wouldn't miss work.
for the first time in all my management years I was asked to fill out a time sheet.
I wasn't getting the bonuses that I had previously. This carried on
without any discussion about where I was going to go in future,
where my responsibilities, when my responsibilities were going to be returned back to me.
I worked as a receptionist for three months and
I was finally called into a meeting with my manager to discuss my future.
I walked into the meeting room to find his wife sitting there
representing personnel. His wife didn't work for the company
and I was totally and utterly put on a back-footing
as I wasn't expecting anybody else to be there. I saw this as a disciplinary.
Although he said it wasn't, I felt that way
because of the questions he then carried on asking me
"when I could do this", "when I could do that" and she was sitting there taking notes.
After the meeting and I asked for a copy of the notes
I was refused them.
At that point, I knew I had no choice but to leave my job.
I took it to an industrial tribunal for sexual discrimination,
disability discrimination and constructive dismissal.
To sit in a tribunal with six colleagues
and against myself has got to be the most difficult thing I've ever done.
I won the disability discrimination case at the tribunal
and was awarded two thousand pounds. I didn't win
constructive dismissal or sexual harassment.
I was advised by my barrister
to appeal against the decision. The legal costs
already 18,000 pounds that my father had paid out
and I couldn't ask him to do that again for me.
After the tribunal, life was terrible. I couldn't find any work
and I was so depressed I was shut in my house. I didn't want to see anybody,
I didn't want to go anywhere and had three months of the year that I have no
recollection of whatsoever.
It took a few months before I could start seeing the world again
and I luckily I found a job locally.
With no pressure, but it has
been a long long time before I have started feeling
back to my old Jules that I used to be. Life is very different for me now.
I still miss the hotel trade desperately,
I love the people contact that I had with them.
General public, staff, I still miss that desperately.
But I've got a job, my health's on the up.
I've got good friends and fantastic family. I've always known it wasn't my cancer
that ruined my career, it was the way I was treated and it was my boss.
And I've never been back to my career since.
If I found anybody that was going through a similar situation,
I would definitely point them in the direction of Macmillan.
Cancer is a disability and Macmillan do have the experience and expertise
to help anybody through it.