EAT DISABILITY DISCRIMINATION – Reasonable adjustments
The Employment Tribunal found that the Respondent was under a duty to make reasonable adjustments to provide one to one counselling for the Claimant’s disability (long-term depression) and failed to do so.
The EAT held that the ET had misdirected itself as to the correct comparator, which should have been not all employees who were able to attend work, but other employees who were ill and subject to the Respondent’s Managing Attendance policy but not disabled. Further, and in any event, the ET had erred in its understanding of the facts, since there was un-contradicted evidence before it that in fact the counselling service made available by the Respondent did include one to one counselling. Accordingly, even if a duty to make reasonable adjustments had arisen, the ET was wrong in law to conclude that it had been breached as there was no evidence to support that finding. On that basis, the case did not need to be remitted and an order would be substituted dismissing the claim for breach of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995.
Singh J
[2013] UKEAT 0421 – 12 – 2802
Bailii
Disability Discrimination Act 1995
England and Wales
Updated: 30 October 2021; Ref: scu.509319