Cases on employment

This case suggests there may be a claim for indirect discrimination against an employer who does not take adequate action against harassment by third parties such as customers. The employment tribunal held the employer liable as regards its failure to ensure all racial abuse was reported. However this part of its decision was not appealed, … Read more

The issue was whether the claimant had a disability within the Equality Act. The EAT followed the Paterson decision. It said that in deciding if an effect on normal day-to-day activities is substantial (ie more than minor or trivial), the tribunal should look at the effect on that individual’s abilities. The tribunal should not compare … Read more

A job applicant was at a disadvantage in a situational judgment test because he had Asperger’s syndrome. This test was the initial stage in the recruitment process. The employer refused to interview him when he failed it. The court held this was a failure to make reasonable adjustments. It did not matter that the claimant … Read more

The Court of Appeal held it was not disability discrimination on the facts to refuse to send an employee on an assignment to Dubai because of high medical risk. The case is of interest on direct disability discrimination – it is not enough that the reason for less favourable treatment is ‘indissociable’ from the disability. … Read more

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