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…
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…
CLFIS (UK) Ltd v Reynolds
In deciding whether a dismissal (or other act) by a sole decision-maker is direct discrimination, the court looks only at the motivation of that decision-maker. However inputs into the decision,…
IB v Greece
The court found it was unlawful discrimination contrary to Article 14 ECHR to dismiss an employee because of his colleagues’ fears about him being HIV positive. Article 14 (non-discrimination) could…
Blackwood v Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust
The court re-interpreted the Equality Act to comply with EU law, so that a student discriminated against by her work placement provider was not left without a claim. She was…
Finnigan v Northumbria Police
The Court of Appeal dismissed a claim for reasonable adjustments by a deaf person whose house was searched by the police. He argued they should have brought a sign language…
MM & DM v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
Mental health patients (MHPs) claiming Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) argued that the government is failing to make reasonable adjustments under Equality Act 2010. The Court of Appeal largely upheld…
