Mr D Bakary v Royal Mail Group Limited — 2017

The claimant, who was accepted to be disabled by reason of a weak left leg condition and stress/depression, complained about the respondent's application of its sick pay policy. The policy limited sick pay to a maximum of 12 months in any four-year period and had been collectively agreed with the recognised union. The claimant was not initially paid company sick pay for absences in December 2018 and May 2019, although the respondent later paid him for those periods and amended his sickness record to remove 475 days of disability-related absence.

The indirect disability discrimination complaint failed because the tribunal found that the claimant had not provided evidence that disabled persons sharing his disabilities were or would be put at the particular disadvantage asserted. The reasonable adjustments complaint also failed: although the respondent accepted the policy was a PCP, that it put the claimant at a substantial disadvantage, and that it knew of the disadvantage, the tribunal found that disapplying the sick pay limit was not a reasonable adjustment on the facts of the case.

The discrimination arising from disability complaint failed because the tribunal accepted that non-payment of sick pay and the grievance outcome resulted from the operation of the sick pay policy and exhaustion of entitlement, rather than because of the sickness absences themselves. The victimisation complaint failed because the tribunal found no causal link between the claimant's previous Employment Tribunal claim and the detriments relied upon.