EAT Unfair Dismissal : Reasonableness of Dismissal – DISABILITY DISCRIMINATION – Disability related discrimination
The Appellant was employed in a civilian capacity by the Ministry of Defence and lived in shared accommodation provided by the Respondent. He was found to be in possession of video and still images of anther employee which had been taken by covert filming while he was in the shower. The Appellant pleaded guilty to an offence of outraging public decency and was sentenced to a three year Community Order by the Crown Court. The Court accepted his mitigation that he suffered from Asperger’s syndrome and a number of other mental disorders. As a result of disciplinary proceedings the Appellant was then dismissed by the Respondent for gross misconduct. The Employment Tribunal found that the dismissal was unfair because it was outside the range of reasonable responses. It also found that the dismissal was related to his disability, namely Asperger’s syndrome and breached section 15 of the Equality Act 2010. The Respondent appealed.
Held, (1) that the Employment Tribunal had erred in law because it substituted its own view in assessing the reasonableness of the dismissal; (2) that the Employment Tribunal erred in law in its assessment of proportionality under section 15 of the Equality Act, as it failed to have regard to relevant considerations and focused entirely on what the Crown Court had said when sentencing the Appellant in the criminal proceedings.
The case would therefore be remitted to a differently constituted Employment Tribunal.
Singh J
[2014] UKEAT 0067 – 14 – 1006
Bailii
England and Wales
Employment
Updated: 20 December 2021; Ref: scu.536377
