Mr Tony Thomas v Kingston and Richmond NHS Foundation Trust — 2025

Mr Tony Thomas complained of direct disability discrimination arising from his bilateral mixed hearing loss. The tribunal found that the respondent became aware of the hearing loss at different points: for Ms Eduardo from 24 January 2023, for Ms Kelly at the dismissal hearing on 7 June 2023 when she saw the OH referral papers, and for Ms Shade at the appeal hearing on 3 August 2023. The tribunal accepted that the claimant had not disclosed the OH report to the Trust before the appeal, although the appeal process did include later hearing evidence from June 2023 and the NMC material sent on 4 July 2023.

The tribunal accepted the respondent's evidence that the dismissal decision was based on capability concerns, not hearing loss. It found the claimant had struggled to meet the required standards for practice as a nurse across a number of competencies, including medication administration, communication, personal development, escalation, time management and prioritisation. It held that only the communication issue was likely to have been affected by the combination of English language and hearing loss; the other failed competencies were not shown to be connected to disability.

On the three acts complained of, the tribunal held that the appeal dismissal, the failure to offer an alternative role, and the NMC referral all occurred, but that none was shown to be because of disability. It found that the decision not to offer an alternative role was driven by the visa restriction and the Trust's view that redeployment would not be appropriate after an earlier move. It found that the NMC referral was made because of competency concerns and that the Trust had no power to withdraw it after referral. Comparing the claimant with a hypothetical internationally educated nurse in materially similar circumstances but without hearing loss, the tribunal concluded that such a person would have been treated the same. The complaint of direct disability discrimination was therefore dismissed in full.