Skip to main content
The Morning Star Shop
Levelling-up: mental health and work
RUTH HUNT talks to those who have been kept out of the workplace through discrimination over their mental health

CONSERVATIVES at Walsall Council have objected to Sean Coughlan, a Labour councillor who has been open about his mental health problems, taking up the post of deputy mayor.

The decision was called “democratic” but the reason given for blocking his appointment was his past struggles with mental health — a decision Coughlan described as “archaic.”

This news story shines a light on the unfair treatment many employees with a mental health diagnosis face, despite the Equality Act (2010).

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
More from this author
WE WANT TO WORK: Disability activists protest previous welfa
Features / 20 March 2025
20 March 2025
By making Personal Independence Payments harder to access, Labour is creating another barrier for those already struggling with soaring care costs, workplace discrimination and prejudiced employers, argues RUTH HUNT
A person placing a swab from a Covid 19 lateral flow test in
Features / 15 March 2025
15 March 2025
The NHS continues to say Covid spreads primarily through ‘droplet and touch’ while the WHO emphasises airborne transmission, meaning vulnerable patients and healthcare workers face unnecessary risks, reports RUTH HUNT
Features / 21 December 2024
21 December 2024
Behind the Samaritans’ promise to always listen, callers face secret restrictions and automated blocks while the charity admits setting limits without clearly warning ‘frequent’ users they risk getting cut off — or why, writes RUTH HUNT
Features / 30 July 2024
30 July 2024
What’s needed are more truly accessible homes, radical reform of the private sector to protect disabled tenants, and a less myopic view of the housing market focused on ‘homeowners,’ argues RUTH HUNT
Similar stories
WE WANT TO WORK: Disability activists protest previous welfa
Features / 20 March 2025
20 March 2025
By making Personal Independence Payments harder to access, Labour is creating another barrier for those already struggling with soaring care costs, workplace discrimination and prejudiced employers, argues RUTH HUNT
Features / 21 December 2024
21 December 2024
Behind the Samaritans’ promise to always listen, callers face secret restrictions and automated blocks while the charity admits setting limits without clearly warning ‘frequent’ users they risk getting cut off — or why, writes RUTH HUNT
Aryna Sabalenka, of Belarus, smiles after defeating Emma Nav
Women’s Tennis / 6 September 2024
6 September 2024
Features / 30 July 2024
30 July 2024
What’s needed are more truly accessible homes, radical reform of the private sector to protect disabled tenants, and a less myopic view of the housing market focused on ‘homeowners,’ argues RUTH HUNT