Teri Munday said this would involve placing too many children with behaviour problems in a bus together with journey times much longer than recommended by government guidance.
She said this caused children to suffer more stress and made the role of passenger assistants unbearable.
Mrs Munday included these details in her witness statement for her employment tribunal case against Southampton City Council.
The 62-year-old has filed claims for unlawful dismissal, discrimination on the grounds of disability and discrimination on the grounds of sex.
The claimant, who lives in Lyndhurst, worked for the council from 2003 until 2024 when she was dismissed by redundancy following a restructure of the transport coordination unit’s home to school transport service.
Mrs Munday worked as a transport coordination officer, which involved arranging school transport for children with special educational needs.
In her written statement submitted in evidence on Tuesday, June 2, Mrs Munday said she is a naturally caring and compassionate person with good morals and principles.
She said she enjoyed her job, however, the role was made excessively stressful by her manager’s behaviour.
Mrs Munday said: “SEN children have many complex needs, I was expected to arrange transport that was unsuitable (according to the training that I received), such as placing too many children with behaviour problems in a bus together with journey times much longer than recommended in the government’s statutory guidance.”
The claimant added: “This not only caused the children to suffer more stress, but also made the role of the passenger assistants unbearable, and as their line manager I was constantly dealing with their pressures, and trying to cover their absences as they were unable to cope.
“This made me feel helpless as I was unable to provide the support that they needed and in turn exasperated my anxiety.”
Mrs Munday said a manager told her there were no statutory times and the government’s guidance was just guidance.
Wesley Potterton, representing the council, put it to the claimant that the local authority and her managers were trying their best within financial and operational constraints.
Mrs Munday said: “We’re not in the business of stopping people getting what they are entitled to.”
Her unlawful dismissal and discrimination claims relate to the council’s restructure of the service in 2024, which would have required her to work at least two consecutive days.
The local authority said this was needed to deliver an effective service.
The claimant reduced her hours from four days to three days, with a shift pattern of Monday, Wednesday and Friday in 2020.
She said the non-consecutive days allowed her to recover from the office’s “toxic” environment and support her mental health.
The tribunal heard on Tuesday and Thursday she looked after her grandchildren.
Mrs Munday said several senior managers were fully aware she suffered both physical and mental health issues.
Concerns had been raised by the claimant about “unmanageable workloads”, her statement said.
It added: “The day off to recover in between has been invaluable and I would no longer be able to cope without it.”
Mrs Munday was dismissed by redundancy last year.
Southampton City Council denies all of the allegations of unlawful conduct.
The tribunal sitting in Southampton continues.