Cases on employment

For the first time, an appeal court has upheld a claim that (direct) discrimination because the claimant was perceived to have a disability is unlawful under the Equality Act. The claimant did not need to show she actually had a disability. The court also discussed the boundaries of direct discrimination. (More on Perceived disability). June … Read more

The claimant was entitled to an early pension only because of his disability, but it was less than it would have been for a disability which came on suddenly. It was less because he had reduced his working hours because of his disability. The Supreme Court held there was no ‘unfavourable treatment’ within s.15 Equality … Read more

The employer’s practice of distributing shifts to bus drivers resulted in the claimant, a Seventh Day Adventist, being required to work on his Sabbath. Was the employer’s practice unlawful as indirect religious discrimination? The EAT held that the tribunal should have considered whether the employer’s practice as a whole was justified, not whether the employer … Read more

An early retirement application due to disability was “very poorly handled”, and there were other failures. The Court of Appeal held that an employer’s mishandling of disability matters is not normally a breach of ss. 13 or 15 EqA unless the employer’s “motivation” for its action or inaction was the disability or something arising from … Read more

The Court of Appeal held that failure of managers to do enough to prevent harassment by a third party was only a breach of the Equality Act if the manager had a discriminatory motivation. Howerer in the present case the union was liable anyway because the harassment was by officials who were its agents. Also … Read more

A teacher showed an 18-rated film to a class (younger than 18). The school dismissed him for misconduct. The teacher’s error of judgment was due to stress which largely arose from his disability, cystic fibrosis. The school knew of the cystic fibrosis, but not that it was a cause of his showing the film. The … Read more

A job applicant who was on the austistic spectrum asked the employer to allow her to give narrative answers in an assessment as part of a highly competitive recruitment process. She said the normal system of selecting from multiple choice answers put her at a disadvantage. The employer refused. The EAT upheld her claim for … Read more

The EAT upheld a claim for reasonable adjustments even though the claimant had not suggested the adjustment to the employer at the time. 2017, Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT). Full judgment: www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKEAT/2017/0202_16_1901.html Facts The claimant had dyspraxia and dyslexia. She spoke to her then line manager about her disability, telling him how the lack of adjustments … Read more

The EAT held that lifting weights in a warehouse up to 25kg was a normal day to day activity, even where the employer expected staff to do it at a particular speed (pick rate). The claimant’s back problem meant he did it significantly more slowly. The impairment therefore had a substantial effect on his ability … Read more