EAT UNFAIR DISMISSAL – Reasonableness of dismissal DISABILITY DISCRIMINATION – Reasonable adjustments Long-serving employee. Multiple grievances against her line managers. Unable to continue working in the same department. Employer willing to provide suitable alternative employment. After long period of negotiations between employer and employee, in order to bring matters to a head, employer gives three … Continue reading South Tyneside Council v Ward: EAT 12 Jul 2011

EAT DISABILITY DISCRIMINATION – Direct disability discriminationDISABILITY DISCRIMINATION – Reasonable adjustmentsUNFAIR DISMISSAL – Constructive dismissalClaimant, working as a debt adviser, suffers from agoraphobia and travel anxiety – Resigns when Respondent refuses to move her to bureau closer to her home on a guaranteed permanent basis – Tribunal dismisses claim under section 3A (2) of Disability … Continue reading Wilcox v Birmingham Cab Services Ltd: EAT 23 Jun 2011

EAT DISABILITY DISCRIMINATION – DisabilityThe Claimant appealed against an Employment Tribunal decision, on a pre-hearing review, that he did not suffer from a disability within the meaning of the DDA 1995. The decision was upheld. The case had turned on the credibility and reliability of the Claimant’s account of his injury and its effects upon … Continue reading Ahmed v Metroline Travel Ltd: EAT 8 Feb 2011

EAT DISABILITY DISCRIMINATION Disability related discrimination Direct disability discrimination An Employment Tribunal failed to focus on the wording of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 in concluding there had been no reasonable adjustment when the employer failed further to extend the benefits of the sick pay scheme to her, when they were already well beyond that … Continue reading The Royal Bank of Scotland v Ashton: EAT 16 Dec 2010

EAT DISABILITY DISCRIMINATION – Disability Employment Tribunal decision pre-dated House of Lords decision in SCA Packaging Ltd v Boyle [2009] IRLR 746, disapproving Employment Appeal Tribunal approach in Latchman [2002] ICR 1453 as to meaning of word ‘likely’ in para. 2(2)(b) of Schedule 1 to Disability Discrimination Act 1995. Appeal allowed on Latchman misdirection and … Continue reading Wigginton v Cowie and Others (T/A Baxter International (A Partnership)): EAT 18 Jun 2010

Appeal against dismissal of claim based on claimant’s assertion of disability. Judges: Judge Hand QC Citations: [2009] UKEAT 0322 – 09 – 2310 Links: Bailii Statutes: Disability Discrimination Act 1995 Jurisdiction: England and Wales Employment, Discrimination Updated: 21 August 2022; Ref: scu.421017

Citations: [2002] EWCA Civ 1716 Links: Bailii Statutes: Disability Discrimination Act 1995 Jurisdiction: England and Wales Employment, Discrimination Updated: 18 August 2022; Ref: scu.441311

Where a tribunal had found unfair dismissal and was considering an award of damages for injury to feelings under the Disability Discrimination Act, it had to recognise the different needs of unlimited awards, and take great care in assessing factual materials.Morison J said: ‘What one might describe as the relatively brief and informal hearing on … Continue reading Buxton v Equinox Design Ltd: EAT 19 Nov 1998

The Tribunal lifted the stay of the claimant’s claim of disability discrimination. Judges: Morison J P Citations: [1998] UKEAT 1004 – 98 – 1911 Links: Bailii Statutes: Disability Discrimination Act 1995 Jurisdiction: England and Wales Cited by: See Also – Kapadia v London Borough of Lambeth EAT 27-May-1999 The claimant appealed against rejection of his … Continue reading Kapadia v London Borough of Lambeth: EAT 19 Nov 1998

EAT DISABILITY DISCRIMINATION: Reasonable adjustments The Employment Tribunal erred in law in failing to properly apply s. 18B of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 to the evidence and to make the necessary findings of fact about reasonable adjustments: Smiths Detection – Watford Ltd v Berriman (UKEAT/0712/04/CK) and Romec Ltd v Rudham (UKEAT/0069/DA) applies. Judges: Birtles … Continue reading Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Job Centre Plus) and Others v Wilson: EAT 19 Feb 2010

EAT DISABILITY DISCRIMINATIONReasonable adjustmentsSection 4A(1) and (3) of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995.The Tribunal found that employer had failed to make a reasonable adjustment when it gave the Claimant a 12 month written warning for leaving work early without asking for or obtaining permission. On appeal, the Employment Appeal Tribunal held: no basis in fact … Continue reading Secretary of State for the Department for Work and Pensions v Alam: EAT 9 Nov 2009

EAT DISABILITY DISCRIMINATION: Reasonable adjustmentsThe Claimant suffered from plantar fasciitis and asthma. The Tribunal found disability discrimination in that the employer had failed to make reasonable adjustments in that (1) it did not discount a period of absence caused by plantar fasciitis in 2005 (at a time when neither party realised that the Claimant’s foot … Continue reading Royal Mail Group Ltd v Hunkin: EAT 27 Jul 2009

The relevant date for determining whether discrimination exists is the date of the alleged discrimination. Judges: Lord Johnston Citations: [2000] UKEAT 645 – 00 – 0111, [2002] ICR 729 Links: Bailii Statutes: Disability Discrimination Act 1995 Jurisdiction: England and Wales Cited by: See Also – Cruickshank v VAW Motorcast Ltd EAT 25-Oct-2001 The point of … Continue reading Cruickshank v VAW Motorcast Ltd: EAT 1 Nov 2000

EAT JURISDICTIONAL POINTS: Claim in time and effective date of terminationHaving correctly held that three of the Claimant’s four DDA claims were out of time, parity of reasoning made the fourth out of time as well, there being no continuing act for the Claimant to rely on. Judgment set aside. Judges: McMullen QC J Citations: … Continue reading Kingston Upon Hull City Council v Matuszowicz: EAT 28 Jan 2008

EAT Sex Discrimination – Inferring DiscriminationThe claimant sought compenstion for sex discrimination. She appealed a finding of a material factor justifying the difference in pay. Held: The new provisions included reference to the Code of Practice issued by the Equal Opportunities Commission, which provided that the employer should provide a transparent system for setting pay … Continue reading Barton v Investec Henderson Crosthwaite Securities Ltd: EAT 6 Mar 2003

EAT DISABILITY DISCRIMINATIONThe EAT held that there were arguable errors in the ET’s approach to the factual questions raised by sections 5 and 6 of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 before their repeal. Judges: Keith J Citations: [2007] UKEAT 0370 – 07 – 3011 Links: Bailii Employment, Discrimination Updated: 14 July 2022; Ref: scu.266652

Judges: Peter Clark HHJ Citations: [2000] EAT 387 – 99 – 2605 Links: Bailii Statutes: Disability Discrimination Act 1995 Employment, Discrimination Updated: 13 July 2022; Ref: scu.265144

EAT Disability Discrimination – disabilityThe Claimant suffered a dislocation of her left knee cap on two occasions. She was a person who had an increased risk of dislocation of the patella. Between the first and second dislocations she made a complete recovery. Held: the Employment Tribunal was entitled to find the impairment continued though there … Continue reading British Gas Trading Limited v Scott: EAT 23 Jan 2008

EAT Disability discrimination – Reasonable adjustments/Justification1. The employers appealed against two findings by the Tribunal that they had failed to make reasonable adjustments for her disability and against the finding that their admittedly disability-related dismissal of the employee was not justified.2. The first adjustment which the Tribunal concluded the employers ought to have made and … Continue reading London Borough of Camden v Price-Job: EAT 18 Dec 2007

EAT The claimant appealed dismissal of his claim under the 1995 Act. He was a telephone operator injured after a sudden shriek in his ear. They had found him not to be disabled within the 1995 Act. Held: The appeal succeeded. The tribunal had carefully considered medical evidence provided by the defendant before deciding themselves … Continue reading Abadeh v British Telecommunications Plc: EAT 19 Oct 2000

EAT Unfair dismissal – Reinstatement/re-engagementPractice and Procedure – Adequacy of ReasonsClaimant was a radiographer who became unable to do clinical work as a result of illness and was made redundant – Tribunal held that she was unfairly dismissed because of lack of consultation about alternatives and that she had suffered disability discrimination because it would … Continue reading Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Trust v Patel: EAT 22 Jun 2007

EAT Practice and Procedure – 2002 Act and Pre-action Requirements Unfair Dismissal – Constructive Dismissal On 14 October 2004 the Claimant claimed constructive unfair dismissal arising out of four acts of the Respondent. No grievance pursuant to the 2004 Regulations had been presented. The Employment Tribunal allowed the case to proceed at a pre-hearing review … Continue reading Cyprus Airways Ltd v Lambrou: EAT 1 May 2007

EAT The Appellant is a qualifying body, subject to section 14 of the Disability Discrimination Act. The Tribunal found that it had failed to make a reasonable adjustment in the arrangements it made for sitting an examination. In so doing the Tribunal misdirected itself on certain aspects of law. However, the EAT held that these … Continue reading Project Management Institute v Latif: EAT 10 May 2007

The claimant had been employed driving a mobile library. She came to suffer back problems, and was dismissed when the respondent said that she could not work within a library without the ability to lift, after she turned down a move to a different department. The EAT had found to be perverse the ET’s conclusion … Continue reading Hay v Surrey County Council: CA 16 Feb 2007

EAT The ET dismissed as premature the Claimant”s application for disability discrimination because the application was made less than 28 days after the Claimant”s grievance had been raised in a letter dated 21st April 2005. In fact there was an earlier letter that constituted a written grievance that was before the ET but its significance … Continue reading Pugh v National Assembly for Wales: EAT 26 Sep 2006

EAT The Claimant claimed that she was disabled within the meaning of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995. She claimed she was suffering from carpal tunnel syndrome, which was accepted. She also complained she was suffering from a mental impairment, i.e ‘stress’. Before the Employment Tribunal she failed to adduce any medical evidence beyond certain brief … Continue reading Beales v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions: EAT 18 Sep 2006

The employer appealed against findings of unfair dismissal and disability discrimination. The employee worked in IT. He was profoundly deaf, but could lip read and read sign language. He had been accused of obtaining improper access to a senior staff member’s emails. During the disciplinary hearing, he had been assisted by an interpreter for part … Continue reading Taylor v OCS Group Ltd: CA 31 May 2006

EAT The Employment Tribunal had erred in its construction of direct discrimination under s3A(5) of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 as amended when it failed to construct a correct hypothetical comparator for the Claimant who was an HIV+ care worker dismissed because of the risk of transmission to users of the Respondent’s health care facilities. … Continue reading High Quality Lifestyles Ltd v Watts: EAT 10 Apr 2006

Simon Brown LJ said: ‘As will readily be seen, it provides (perhaps rather surprisingly) that someone is to be treated as disabled even though they are not in fact disabled (even, that is, where they suffer no substantial adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities) if, without the medical treatment they … Continue reading D Woodrup v London Borough of Southwark: CA 2003

EAT The appellant who was disabled was dismissed after a long absence from work. He made various claims under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, all of which were rejected. He contended that the failure to make an assessment of a disabled employee was a failure to make a reasonable adjustment and that Tarbuck v Sainsbury’s … Continue reading Spence v Intype Libra Ltd: EAT 27 Apr 2007

A medical report in a disability discrimination claim should deal with the doctor’s diagnosis of the impairments, the doctor’s observation of the applicant carrying out day to day activities and the ease with which he was able to perform those functions, together with any relevant opinion as to prognosis and the effect of medication. Morison … Continue reading Vicary v British Telecommunications Plc: EAT 19 Feb 1998

Appeal against a finding that a claim of disability discrimination was in time. Judges: Charles J Citations: [2001] UKEAT 518 – 00 – 1902, EAT/518/00 Links: Bailii, EAT Statutes: Disability Discrimination Act 1995 Cited by: See Also – Harley v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis EAT 18-Sep-2001 Application for hearing to be postponed. . … Continue reading Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis v Harley: EAT 19 Feb 2001

EAT Disability Discrimination – Less favourable treatment. The appellant brought proceedings against the Respondents alleging that they had failed to make adjustments to her workplace and conditions so as to accommodate her disability, that they had treated her less favourably for reasons relating to her disability; and in the second case presented in 2000 that … Continue reading Meikle v Nottinghamshire County Council: EAT 19 Aug 2003

EAT Unfair Dismissal – OtherThe employer appealed a finding of unfair dismissal and disability discrimination. She suffered an apparently minor injury, but which led to long standing disability with varying diagnoses. The company doctor came to consider it would be a long time before she could return. She was dismissed for capability. Held: There was … Continue reading Gate Gourmet v J B Jangra: EAT 12 Dec 2000

EAT The EAT considered the expression ‘likely to last’ in paragraph 2(1)(b) of the Act, and stated: ‘It is always tempting to accord, and is often appropriate, when it is charged with finding out what at some earlier date the future would then have seem to hold, to have regard to what the future in … Continue reading Latchman v Reed Business Information Ltd: EAT 7 Dec 2001

EAT The employer appealed against a finding of unfair dsmissal and unlawful disability discrimination. He claimant suffered post traumatic stress after a fire at the appellant’s premises, and the employer was advised to remove him from safety critical positions. They made attempts to find alternate work, but the claimant said the attempts were inadequate, and … Continue reading Conoco Ltd v Kevan Booth: EAT 30 Jan 2001

The claimant challenged refusal of his claim of discrimination. He was profoundly deaf. He applied for work, and indicated his disability, but no provision was made for a signer to appear at the interview. The interview was re-arranged, but he failed. Held: The tribunal gave reasons for finding that the disability had played no part … Continue reading Murphy v Sheffield Hallam University: EAT 11 Jan 2000

Both cases questioned the extent, as a disability, of functional or psychological ‘overlay’, where there may be no medical condition underlying the symptoms which the employee claims to be present. Neither claimant had asserted any psychological disability. The employees appealed a refusal that they be considered to suffer a disability. ‘Impairment’, has to mean some … Continue reading Rugamel v Sony Music Entertainment UK Ltd; McNicol v Balfour Beatty Rail Maintenance Ltd: EAT 28 Aug 2001

Miss Cox claimed that the Council had not made a proper adjustment so as to allow her to work for them despite her disability. The Council asserted as a preliminary point that they were not a trade organisation within the sections, and so were not caught by the provisions. They appealed a finding against them. … Continue reading General Medical Council v H Cox: EAT 22 Mar 2002