In Person v Respondent — 2024

The claimant, a mathematics teacher and former housemistress at Ellesmere College, brought claims of public interest disclosure detriment, discrimination arising from disability, indirect disability discrimination, failure to make reasonable adjustments, harassment related to disability, victimisation and health and safety detriment under s.44(1)(c) of the Employment Rights Act 1996. She also brought a complaint of trade union membership detriment which she withdrew during submissions. The claimant relied on an eating disorder as a disability and contended the respondent was aware of it from 2019; the respondent's position was that it had no knowledge until an Occupational Health report dated 27 July 2022 and that the claimant had actively hidden the condition.

The Tribunal determined liability only. It found that the respondent did not have actual or constructive knowledge of the claimant's eating disorder before 27 July 2022, which defeated the disability-related claims that depended on prior knowledge. On the victimisation claims, the Tribunal accepted that the claimant's emails of 21 April 2022 and her August 2022 correspondence with Ms Avery contained protected acts, but found earlier communications (including the 27 March 2022 and 1 April 2022 emails) did not amount to protected acts. In relation to the alleged detriment of a changed dress code on 7 November 2021, the Tribunal accepted the respondent's evidence that the policy was changed because staff generally were not dressing professionally after lockdown and that the claimant's protected acts were not a significant influence or important causative factor.

All public interest disclosure detriment, discrimination arising from disability, indirect disability discrimination, reasonable adjustments, harassment, victimisation and s.44(1)(c) health and safety detriment claims were found not well founded and dismissed. The trade union membership detriment complaint was dismissed on withdrawal. No remedy was awarded.