Woman wins £7,500 after complaining British Library was too noisy to work in

It’s a rite of passage for almost everyone: being shushed at a library.

But British Library worker Lidia Kogut sued the historic London institution for being too noisy – and has now won £7,500 in an employment tribunal.

Kogut, 45, accused the national library of ‘failing to provide reasonable adjustment to provide her with a quiet location’ to work.

She argued that failing to do so clashed with sections of the Equality Act that ask employers to make accommodations for people with disabilities.

A court ruled in her favour last month and found the research building did not provide her with a quieter workstation or offer her a ‘suitable’ alternative role.

Court documents did not specify her job role.

In the decision published Tuesday, employment judge Richard Nicolle said: ‘Ms Kogut’s claim that the [British Library] failed to make a reasonable adjustment to provide her with a quiet location within its premises succeeds in accordance with… the Equality Act.

‘Or, alternatively, that it failed to move her to a quiet office temporarily until a permanent suitable alternative role was identified.’

The British Library tried to get the case thrown out in May 2023 but the dismissal was rejected by another tribunal, according to court records.

Kogut won £1,350.20 for a salary reduction she received between September and November 2022.

The court also awarded her an ‘injury to feelings award of £5,000’ – with interest, it amounted to £6204.38.

All other lodged claims were dismissed.

The British Library is one of the largest libraries in the world, with 200 million items stacking its shelves.

Nearly 1,400,000 authors, academics and students, among others, visited the British Library in 2023, 23% compared to the year before.

The library was shushed for weeks in 2023 when it was the victim of a cyberattack, leaving scholars unable to access its online catalogue, staff boot up their computers or tourists pay with card at the gift shop

The British Library declined to comment.

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