EAT DISABILITY DISCRIMINATION – PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE
An employee suffering from MS was subjected by his line manager (he said) to comments adverse to his performance, who was dismissive of his difficulties arising from his illness. He fell off work on 4 February 2011, and did not return, eventually taking ill-health retirement on 30 December 2011. During that period he was told (in September 2011) that he had formally been assigned Performance Improvement Required status. On 29 March 2012 he claimed he had been discriminated against in contravention of both ss.15 and 20 of the Equality Act 2010. An Employment Judge at a Pre-Hearing Review called to consider whether the claim was time-barred held that the imposition of the PIR status was an act which continued until 30 December 2011, such that his claim was within time so far as it relied on that, but did not give sufficiently clear reasons to say why he had not determined that the claims based on the line manager’s comments should be held out of time: instead, he had noted that that question should be determined in the light of further evidence at the substantive hearing. On a challenge to the latter finding, it was held that the EJ was therefore in error of law, but the Appeal Tribunal exercised its powers to decide the matter as the EJ had done, though with expanded reasoning.
Langstaff P J
[2013] UKEAT 0057 – 12 – 2203
Bailii
England and Wales
Updated: 27 October 2021; Ref: scu.503541
