Nicky has battled with weight problems all her life and said it comes down to her genetics.

A morbidly obese asthmatic woman - who quit her Auckland District Health Board job because she was not allowed to use disabled parking - has been offered her job back.

The woman, who asked to only be identified as Nicky, quit her job over an incident she called "borderline discrimination" but her bosses said was just a "misunderstanding."

The 40-year-old account manager took a job in the Auckland DHB call centre in late April - a job requiring little physical exertion.

However, two days into training she was told the mobility parks she needed would be off-limits to staff. The next best option, a 10 minute walk to alternate parking, would be out of the question for the chronic asthma sufferer.

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Auckland DHB has since confirmed that the ban on staff using disability parks was a "misunderstanding" that was incorrectly published to the staff intranet.

"I get that there are miscommunications, but in this case, it unfortunately led to the loss of a job, and some seriously hurt feelings," Nicky said.

Nicky was originally excited about the new job and the abundance of disability parks at Greenlane clinical centre meant she would have no access problems with her mobility parking permit.

"I was buzzing - I kept thinking 'this is going to be great'."

But her buzz wore off on the second day after a memo was brought to her attention, saying that as of May 1, all mobility parks would be reserved for patients and visitors, and any staff found parking there would be towed without notice.

The memo said: "If you need a disability park - please see your contact centre manager," which she did.

Nicky said the manager was unsympathetic and reluctant to sort it out with the on-site parking provider.

"I'm an employee - she's just hired me - but she wasn't even willing to call Wilson's about it," Nicky said.

Unable to rely on using standard on-site parking, or the alternate parking in Cornwall Park, a 10 minute walk away, Nicky quit that same day.

"I'm a dime a dozen and there is always somebody out there that's going to have less issues than me - so I get why they were happy to just let me walk out."

"I see the way employers sometimes look at me ​... I come across prejudice all the time because of my weight and breathing and stuff, but nothing like this, nothing so blatantly out there as this."

Nicky said that being technically classified as morbidly obese probably did not help her asthma, but also said the two conditions were medically separated and her weight is not the issue here.

"I could have rocked that job and I didn't get a chance to show anyone because of my stupid asthma."

Nicky said the emotional toll it had on her was great: "I got to the elevator and burst into tears - I felt worthless."

"I was embarrassed and devastated, I kept thinking 'this can't be happening right now'. All I was looking for was a little bit of understanding."

Fuming, she called CCS disability action - the mobility parking permit provider - who said because the parking was contracted out to a private parking provider, the DHB was not doing anything illegal.

Nicky said it was a very fine line between a simple legality and taking away her "basic human right to work".

"What they are doing effectively, is taking away parking from disabled staff, and that's not right."

"I get that there is not enough car parks for the amount of people who work there, but they shouldn't make life harder on the disabled people when there are plenty of disabled parks around my area," Nicky said.

An Auckland DHB spokesman said the "misunderstanding" should not have happened.

"An incorrect item was published to the staff intranet on 26 April that led to contact centre staff conveying information to [Nicky] that was incorrect," they said.

The information was corrected a week later in a staff newsletter but it was too late for Nicky, who had already left her role.

"Auckland DHB is seeking to contact [Nicky] to apologise for what happened ... We acknowledge that [she] is upset, however if she is still wanting to consider it, she is very welcome to get in touch to discuss work opportunities."

The Auckland DHB have since offered Nicky her old job back along with a reserved mobility park right outside the call centre.