Christian Mallon v Electus Recruitment Solutions Limited — 2021

Christian Mallon said he was discriminated against because of disability, relying on direct discrimination and a failure to make reasonable adjustments after a recruitment application through Electus Recruitment Solutions Limited was not progressed. He said he had dyspraxia. The respondent said he did not meet the essential requirements for the role and that this was why his application was not forwarded beyond the initial sift.

On the direct discrimination issue, the tribunal found on the agreed evidence that the claimant did not meet the essential criteria for the post. It noted that almost 130 other candidates also did not meet the criteria and were not forwarded, and that the claimant's own oral application to the end client failed for the same reason. The tribunal concluded that he was treated the same as other non-qualified applicants and that there was no reasonable prospect of showing less favourable treatment because of disability, so that claim was struck out.

On reasonable adjustments, the tribunal recorded that the application process involved an initial paper sift and that there was a period before the claimant was offered an oral application by the respondent. It held that questions about whether that amounted to a PCP, whether it placed the claimant at a substantial disadvantage, whether the respondent knew or ought to have known of that disadvantage, and whether the proposed step was reasonable were factual matters requiring a full hearing. For that reason the claim was not struck out.