OH Assist, the recently formed occupational health subsidiary of Atos, is reported to have contacted a number of critical Facebook pages asking for them to be removed because they allegedly ‘incite hatred’ towards the company.{jcomments on}
As we revealed last month, Atos has started two new occupational health companies, OH Assist and Performe Health, possibly in an effort to escape the toxic associations that the name Atos has for many people.
However, OH Assist has already been widely attacked online as simply being Atos by another name. The company has reportedly had to close down its Facebook page as a result of sustained criticism – though a fake OH Assist page has already sprung up.
Atos has claimed that one of the reasons it wants to exit the work capability assessment contract is that its staff have been the victims of an average of 163 episodes of threats or abuse a month.
However, despite requests from Benefits and Work and many other agencies, Atos has yet to provide any proof or breakdown of its allegations against claimants.
The demands by OH Assist appear to echo this claim. The targeted sites: The People Vs The Government, DWP and Atos; Black Triangle Anti-Defamation Campaign in Defence of Disability Rights and Atos Miracles have received a message stating:
“We ask kindly that you remove this page as it incites hatred towards our staff and members. Thank you.”
Whilst the tone is unthreatening, the allegation that the pages incite hatred is a serious one and seem likely to be the precursor of further action either via Facebook or the legal system.
We’ll keep you posted on any developments.
Many thanks to the Vox Political blog for highlighting this issue.
