Almost every week I find myself advising employers on all sorts of aspects of discrimination law. Common scenarios include an employee, very early in their probation period, taking substantial leave from work with possible mental health issue.  Another is ‘what does a reasonable adjustment look like?’ in this or that situation.  In my experience, the…
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Summary:  Was an employer’s decision to issue a written warning to a disabled employee for taking 60 days’ sickness absence over a 12-month period discriminatory? Yes, as it was disproportionate, says the EAT in DL Insurance Services Ltd v O’Connor available here. Facts:  Mrs O’Connor, the employee, was disabled, which was accepted by her employer,…
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Summary: Can a dismissal for misconduct be discriminatory even if the employer does not know that a disability has caused the misconduct? Yes, says the Court of Appeal in City of York Council v Grosset available here. Facts:  The employee, Mr Grosset was employed as a teacher. He had cystic fibrosis, which the parties agreed…
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Summary:  Can an expectation that an employee work long hours amount to a provision, criterion or practice which requires reasonable adjustments for a disabled employee? Yes, says the Court of Appeal in United First Partners Research v Carreras available here. Background: an employer is obliged to make reasonable adjustments where there is a provision, criterion…
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Summary:  Does an employer have to take every possible step to establish whether an employee is disabled to avoid having constructive knowledge of disability? No, says the Court of Appeal in Donelien v Liberata UK Ltd available here. Facts:  The employer, Liberata, employed Ms Donelien for nearly 11 years as a court officer until it…
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Summary:  Can an employer discriminate directly because of a perceived disability? Yes, says the EAT in Chief Constable of Norfolk v Coffey, available here. Facts: Lisa Coffey was a police constable. Although she had some hearing loss which was marginally outside the range set for recruitment, she had passed a practical functionality test and was…
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What do we already know? We updated you in our January 2016 Newsletter Human rights and monitoring at work on the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) decision in Bărbulescu v Romania that an employee’s right to respect for private and family life was not breached if their employer monitored their personal communications at work…
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Summary:  Was a disabled employee treated unfavourably (and therefore discriminated against) when his enhanced pension on ill-health retirement was based on the salary he earned when working part time due to his disability, rather than his full time salary? No, says the Court of Appeal in Williams v The Trustees of Swansea University Pension &…
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Summary:  If an employee’s long term sickness absence shows lack of need for the role and the employer make that role redundant, does this amount to disability discrimination? No, says the EAT in Charlesworth –v- Dransfields Engineering Services Ltd available here.   Facts:  Mr Charlesworth, the employee, managed one of four branches of the employer’s…
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Summary:  Is it disability discrimination to make a job applicant with Asperger’s syndrome sit a situational judgment test (multiple choice test) as part of the recruitment process? Yes, says the EAT in the Government Legal Service v Brookes, available here. Facts:  Ms Brookes has Asperger’s syndrome and applied to join the Government Legal Service (‘GLS’)…
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