Zookeeper who quit her job after saying ADHD left her unable to identify monkeys loses compensation bid

Published: 20:05, 4 June 2026 | Updated: 20:05, 4 June 2026 A zookeeper who quit her job after failing to recognise breeds of monkeys has lost a bid for compensation. Lisa O’Hara, 36, alleged she was subjected to ‘degrading’ treatment while working at Edinburgh Zoo. She was based in two sections of the animal park, named Bundongo and Living Links, which contained, among others, squirrel monkeys and capuchin monkeys. The team also had responsibility for other animals such as goats and gibbons. She was given training to help spot capuchin monkeys but needed further time after failing a probationary training period. Ms O’Hara resigned her post in February 2025, less than a year after starting her role. She told a tribunal she was ‘excluded’ from her team, denied reasonable adjustments and faced criticism over her ADHD. A 12-day hearing at the Edinburgh employment tribunal heard Ms O’Hara cared for primates at the zoo and had difficulty identifying individual capuchin monkeys due to her condition. Her manager, Callum Gibson, said identifying animals was a vital part of the job to ensure their health and wellbeing. Lisa O’Hara alleged she was subjected to ‘degrading’ treatment while working at Edinburgh Zoo The capuchins and squirrel monkeys at Edinburgh Zoo Documents show Mr Gibson told her: ‘You have to start taking responsibility for yourself with training. There is only so much I can do to support this before you need to take ownership.’  Ms O’Hara said she felt her situation was treated differently to other staff, adding: ‘I felt it was unequally applied to me than others.’ She also alleged a colleague made repeated critical comments about her timekeeping.  Another co-worker allegedly told her, ‘It would be good if you could mask [your ADHD],’ which Ms O’Hara felt was ‘discriminatory’ and ‘degrading’.  She described feeling ostracised and humiliated, including having to eat alone at times, and said she was placed under ‘unnecessary’ scrutiny, including being investigated via CCTV for being a minute late. Ms O’Hara also raised concerns about health and safety practices at the zoo, including ladder use, and claimed she faced worse treatment after highlighting these issues. She lodged a total of eight complaints linked to her claim for unfair dismissal. Employment judge Brian Campbell struck out the claim and ruled Ms O’Hara had failed to prove her case. A written judgment said: ‘When applying the relevant legal tests to the evidence in each of the complaints it was determined that they were unsuccessful. There was therefore no requirement to consider remedy. ‘The claimant had clearly experienced a negative effect on her health as a result of her time working with the respondent even though it and the individual respondents were found not to be liable in a legal sense. ‘This is regrettable and it is hoped that there may still be scope for her to pursue her chosen career in a different setting.’ Ben Supple, deputy chief executive of zoo owner the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, said: ‘We are pleased the tribunal agreed with our position and dismissed these claims.’ No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.