Mr B Masood v Penn Pharmaceutical Services Ltd — 2024

The tribunal accepted that Mr B Masood was disabled by bipolar disorder. It refused an application to add asthma and a new payslip claim because those were new matters, were out of time, and would have required an adjournment, but proceeded with the disability discrimination, harassment, wrongful dismissal and sick pay issues. It found the respondent knew of the bipolar disorder from 22 July 2022 and that, during employment, the claimant was given some flexibility with start times, extra time for compliance training and permission to keep his phone for medical calls. All of the pleaded claims were dismissed.

On the merits, the tribunal rejected the claims that the claimant had been deliberately isolated, denied leniency or a late shift because of disability, or subjected to unlawful PCPs about breaks, return-to-work discussions, uniform, mobile phones, sickness reporting or sick pay. It accepted that bipolar disorder and insomnia could make 8.30am starts difficult, but found the employer was not aware of the specific disadvantage until the occupational health report around 11 August 2022 and had already taken steps such as flexible start times, additional training time and medical-call arrangements. It also found that the absence of return-to-work interviews at the site was a wholescale omission affecting all employees, and that the claimant was not shown to have been put to a disadvantage by it.

The harassment complaints failed because the tribunal regarded the challenged conduct as ordinary management enquiries about lateness, uniform, breaks, phone use and the occupational health appointment, and not conduct related to disability that had the required effect. The dismissal-related claims failed because the tribunal accepted that on 22 August 2022 the claimant told Ms Davies that he had previously run someone over and felt no remorse, and found that this was the reason Mr White considered immediate action necessary; Mr White was unaware of the claimant's disability when that decision was made. Wrongful dismissal failed because the claimant was paid one week's notice, and the 3.5-day sick pay/unlawful deduction complaint failed because the tribunal found the claimant was paid in full and could not understand the basis of the claim.