Ms S Burnett v British Telecommunications plc — 2019

The Claimant was accepted to be disabled at all material times. The Tribunal found that the Respondent had concerns about her performance over a long period and had provided support including coaching, performance plans, occupational health referrals, workplace assessments, equipment, reduced or adjusted performance expectations, breaks, transport assistance, and Dragon software training.

On reasonable adjustments, the Tribunal accepted that some provisions, criteria or practices could place the Claimant at a substantial disadvantage, including typing requirements and remaining in her existing role. It found, however, that additional Dragon training was not required, Dragon scripting was not shown to have a real prospect of removing the disadvantage, the Respondent had done what was reasonable about space for exercises, and permanent offline work would have been a fundamentally different role.

On discrimination arising from disability, the Tribunal found that the dismissal was because of the quality of the Claimant's work rather than difficulties with typing and IT work, failure to meet targets, or difficulty with a standard timetable of tasks. It also concluded in the alternative that dismissal was a proportionate means of maintaining a minimum standard of service.

On unfair dismissal, the Tribunal found that capability was the reason for dismissal and that the Respondent honestly believed on reasonable grounds that the Claimant could not perform the role to a satisfactory standard. It found that the Respondent had taken considerable time to support improvement and that the decision to dismiss was within the band of reasonable responses.