A prison officer with epilepsy was successful in his claim for disability discrimination after being dismissed from his job, with an award of £445,000.
The facts
It was accepted by the employer that his condition amounted to a disability for the purposes of protection under the Equality Act, and they took steps on advice (placing him on restricted duties) to monitor his condition due to the security risk posed by him having a seizure whilst on duty. He had to be seizure-free for six months before he could return to normal duties. However, during this time, he had other sickness absences, for which he was dismissed without prior warnings being issued, for the high sickness absence, and, in the employer’s opinion, his being unlikely to return to full duties.
The Employment Tribunal decision
The Employment Tribunal was critical that the employer had not made adequate enquiries about his medical condition which led them to make unreasonable assumptions on what tasks he could or could not do. In so doing, they had also failed to follow their own attendance management policies. He was not consulted on alternatives or reasonable adjustments before the employer took the decision to dismiss.
Key takeaways
At its heart, this is another cautionary tale of the importance not only of having solid policies in place but taking care to follow them. There is always a danger, when dealing with reasonable adjustments to take what you think is best or the most expedient course of action, without taking sufficient time and trouble to substantiate that and include the person who actually has the disability in that process.
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