The EAT held that dismissal because of such language could amount to discrimination arising from disability contrary to s.15 EqA. In Risby v LB Waltham Forest www.bailii.org the claimant had a short temper, which was not related to a disability. However, the EAT held that his disability (paraplegia), for which he wanted the reasonable adjustment, was also... Read more »
Diana Kloss reviews this thorny area in her most recent blog post. This is a topic which has caused much debate over the years. The problem in a nutshell is this: an employee referred by a manager to OH tells a nurse or physician that they have a health condition that is automatically a disability... Read more »
The EAT held that the claimant’s exaggeration of his symptoms was gross misconduct, and his dismissal was fair. The EAT in Metroline West v Ajaj, www.bailii.org has taken a serious view of ‘pulling a sickie’. It held that the claimant’s exaggeration of his symptoms was gross misconduct and his dismissal was fair. This was not... Read more »
Employers contributing asbestos fibres were held liable, but not jointly and severally for the whole amount of damages since the Compensation Act 2006 did not apply. The Fairchild principle as regards mesothelioma – that all employers negligently contributing to the risk can have some liability – has now been held by the Court of Appeal... Read more »
In direct discrimination, the focus is on the motivations and knowledge of the individual decision maker. The EAT has held In Gallop v Newport www.bailii.org (part of the same litigation as the 2013 Court of Appeal decision) that on a direct discrimination claim one looks just at the motivations and knowledge of the individual decision... Read more »
The Supreme Court has held that a petrol station was vicariously liable for an attack by an employee which took place on the forecourt, and that the government was vicariously liable for a prisoner working in the prison kitchens who negligently injured a supervisor. In the first case the petrol station attendant was an employee,... Read more »
The EAT has again stressed the important of EU law in deciding what is a ‘disability’. In Banaszczyk v Booker Ltd www.bailii.org, the Employment Appeal Tribunal has held that lifting and moving cases which weighed up to 25kg, in wholesale quantities, was a normal day-to-day activity. The claimant’s impairment meant he was significantly slower at... Read more »
The EAT held against an employer who turned down a job applicant because of a negative reference. Not knowing that the reference was because of disability-related absences was not a defence in itself. An employer has a defence against a claim under s.15 Equality Act if it shows it did not know, and could not... Read more »
The Court of Appeal has held that the reasonable adjustment duty does apply to attendance procedures. Controversially, the EAT had previously decided that in effect the reasonable adjustment duty did not require adjustments to attendance procedures. The EAT said that a disabled person was at no disadvantage compared with other employees who had the same... Read more »
ACAS has published a new guide Disability discrimination: key points for the workplace. The guide at www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=5566 offers employers, senior managers, line managers, HR personnel, employees, employee/trade union representatives and job applicants a grounding into how disability discrimination can occur in the workplace, how it can be dealt with and how to reduce the chance... Read more »
