A British diplomat has lost her tribunal case against the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) after it withdrew an overseas job offer because of the cost of accommodating her deafness.

FCO employee Jane Cordell lodged the discrimination claim when Whitehall revoked its decision to offer her a role as Britain’s deputy ambassador to Kazakhstan, after it emerged the cost of providing trained “lip speakers” would be £240,000.

The employment tribunal upheld the FCO’s decision on the grounds of cost, reported The Independent, after it heard that the bill to the public of employing the speech interpreters would amount to five times Cordell’s salary.

The ruling says the cost of providing the legally required adjustments for Cordell’s posting was “simply unreasonable”, and supports the decision the FCO made to withdraw the job offer in January.

However, the tribunal is said to concede that this places “some limitations” on the types of posting that Cordell could expect to be offered in future.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) said the ruling raised concerns about the growing barriers to disabled people in the workplace and their likelihood of proceeding as far as able-bodied people in their chosen careers.

A spokesperson for the EHRC, which part-funded Cordell’s case, described the outcome as “disappointing”, adding: “It is important that reasonable adjustments are provided to allow disabled people like Jane to realise their full potential.”