Trustees of Swansea University Pension & Assurance Scheme v Williams
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…
C & C v The Governing Body of a School
Regulations say that a tendency to physical abuse cannot be a disability under Equality Act 2010. It had therefore been held that an autistic child with a tendency to lash…
Natwest advert withdrawn
A BSA member showed that complaining can make a difference when he tweeted about an insensitive advert. A NatWest advert read: ‘Making sure your start-up doesn’t stutter’. A British Stammering…
Unite the Union v Nailard
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…
Lee v Ashers Baking (‘gay cake’ case)
A bakery in Northern Ireland refused to supply a cake iced with the message “support gay marriage” because of the religious beliefs of its owners. The Supreme Court held this…
M v Mitie Aviation Security
A claimant who spoke fast, and may or may not have had cluttering or a stammer, was held not to have a disability within the Equality Act. Employment tribunal, June…
Petrol station (July 2017)
A civil servant claims that staff at a Sainsburys petrol station mimicked his stammer when he had difficulty pronouncing his pump number, and laughed at his speech. According to him…
Blamires v Local Government Ombudsman
The claimant had ME/CFS, and also dystonia which affected her speech. She referred a complaint against a county council to the Local Government Ombudsman and requested support because of her…
Bus driver laughs at passenger’s stammer (March 2017)
A bus company in Staffordshire apologised to a customer after one of its drivers laughed at her as she tried to buy a ticket. She said the driver put his…
Coffee shop mocks stammer on customer’s cup (January 2017)
Starbucks asks a customer’s name when he or she orders a drink, and writes it on the cup. In this particular case, when the customer stammered on his name the…
Paulley v First Group plc
A bus company had a policy that if a wheelchair user needed the wheelchair space, the driver would request other passengers to vacate it, but would not require them to….
Galo v Bombadier Aerospace
The court overturned a Northern Irish industrial tribunal decision because the tribunal had not made appropriate adjustments for the claimant’s Asperger’s Syndrome. The tribunal should have paid attention to the…
Rackham v NHS Professionals
The EAT held that employment tribunals are under an obligation to make reasonable adjustments to accommodate disabled claimants, but sufficient adjustments had been made in the present case. Employment Appeal…
Banaszczyk v Booker
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…
CHEZ v Komisia za zashtita ot diskriminatsia
The EU court held that a person could claim indirect race discrimination even though she herself did not have that particular racial or ethnic background. An electricity company placed meters…
Thompson v London Central Bus
An employment tribunal had held (and it was not appealed) that victimisation “on an associative basis”, ie because of a protected act (eg a discrimination claim) by somone else, is…
