EAT DISABILITY DISCRIMINATION – Disability
The Appellant held a full-time Finance Officer position at the Fulham Job Centre. The Respondent conceded that she had been disabled by PTSD (‘the disability’) at the material time, namely the period around her dismissal, but the parties were at odds as to whether the Respondent was or ought to have been aware that she had PTSD, or as to the way in which the PTSD affected her.
The ET dismissed the Appellant’s complaints of disability discrimination and harassment. She succeeded in respect of her complaint of unfair dismissal alone.
The EAT allowed her appeal against the Decision of the ET both in relation to disability discrimination and harassment. The focus of the ET’s inquiry should have been on the underlying facts which amounted to the disability and the effects of it, not on the condition itself. The ET erred in adopting too restrictive an approach towards the Appellant’s agreed mental impairment. The Respondent was required to consider the symptoms and effect of the Claimant’s disability.
The case is remitted to the same ET, with a direction that the Tribunal do not take into account certain medical evidence.
Citations:
[2017] UKEAT 0045 – 16 – 2501
Links:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Employment, Discrimination
Updated: 29 January 2022; Ref: scu.574088