Ms R Jiggens - Paralegal For the v Mr C McDevitt - Counsel — 2021

The tribunal accepted that Ms Yardley was disabled by reason of anxiety and depression at all material times and found that Somerset County Council had constructive knowledge of that disability from the first occupational health report. It also found, however, that the contemporaneous medical records pointed primarily to home circumstances as the cause of her symptoms, and that her later evidence that work was the main trigger was overstated.

The constructive dismissal claim failed. The tribunal held that Mrs King’s contact with the claimant, the wellbeing meetings, and the handling of the grievance and redeployment discussions were not repudiatory conduct. It found that the parties had been working towards an alternative role away from Mrs King, that the grievance process was adapted by agreement to focus on that solution, and that the matters relied on as the final straws did not amount either separately or cumulatively to a breach of trust and confidence.

The disability discrimination claims were also dismissed. On reasonable adjustments, the tribunal found that the pleaded PCPs were not made out, or did not put the claimant at a substantial disadvantage, and that there was no basis for the adjustments said to be required. On the section 15 claim, the only treated-as-unfavourable point identified was the reduction in sick pay after contractual entitlement was exhausted, but the tribunal held that this was justified by legitimate aims and was proportionate.

The harassment allegations were rejected because the tribunal did not accept that the relevant contacts, texts, GP letter request, or meetings were unwanted conduct with the required purpose or effect. The victimisation claim also failed: the grievance of 21 March 2019 was accepted as a protected act, but the tribunal found that the grievance handling and redeployment discussions were driven by the practical aim of finding a workable return-to-work solution, not by the claimant’s protected act or by her use of a disability specialist representative. All claims were dismissed and no award was made.