Mrs B Bennett v City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council — 2022

The tribunal dismissed the claimant’s disability discrimination claim, which was pleaded as a failure to make reasonable adjustments claim. It held that the specific PCP relied on by the claimant, namely a practice of following a procedure which meant the respondent did not listen to or communicate adequately with her between September 2020 and April 2021, was not established. The tribunal also found no objective basis for concluding that the pleaded PCP placed her at the pleaded substantial disadvantage, and therefore did not need to determine the remaining elements of that claim.

The tribunal upheld the claimant’s constructive dismissal claim. It found that over time the claimant’s concerns about dangerous conditions, staffing pressures, assaults by Child X, and the handling of her grievances were largely ignored or delayed. It also found that from around September 2020 the respondent failed to engage effectively with her repeated request for medical redeployment outside residential services, had a closed mind to alternatives to a return to residential work, and did not properly engage with occupational health advice, including advice given after disclosure of her bile acid malabsorption condition.

The tribunal concluded that the respondent then placed the claimant in a vulnerable position during the phased return at Skyview, including inadequate support on the second day and no adequate consideration of adjustments connected to her BAM. It found that the respondent’s conduct, viewed cumulatively, breached the implied term of trust and confidence and that the claimant resigned in response to that breach after receiving the outcome of her second grievance and facing a capability process she reasonably believed would result in dismissal.