Darren Owen v Galliford Try Employment Limited — 2019

The claimant, who has Type 1 diabetes, was employed by the respondent as an on-site salesman on a zero-hours basis. He alleged that his dismissal on 25 July 2018 was disability discrimination because it followed shortly after he emailed his manager saying that hot weather was affecting his blood sugars and that he could not drive to Barnstaple. The respondent accepted disability but disputed prior knowledge and said the decision to dismiss had already been made because of concerns about the claimant's interactions with others.

The tribunal preferred the claimant's evidence that the manager knew of his diabetes at all material times. It found that the initial conversation between the claimant and manager was likely to have included the condition, that colleagues knew of it, and that the respondent's denial of knowledge was not credible in the circumstances.

However, the tribunal found that the dismissal decision was made before the blood-sugars email. It relied on the cancellation of the claimant's sales training earlier on 25 July 2018, the manager's messages after receiving the email, and earlier concerns about incidents on 29 June, 12 or 13 July, and around 16 July. The tribunal concluded that the manager was unhappy with the claimant and terminated his employment for that reason and no other. It also recorded that the respondent's handling of the employment and dismissal did not comply with basic professional standards, but that this did not establish disability discrimination.