Mrs N McGarry-Gribbin v B&Q Limited — 2021

The Tribunal accepted that the claimant was disabled by diverticular disease and that the respondent had knowledge of the disability from April 2018. It found that the claimant’s transfer from the seasonal department to the front-end department was made because of operational redeployment of hours, not because of disability. The Tribunal also found that the respondent had made adjustments concerning heavy lifting and shift arrangements while the claimant worked in the seasonal department.

The successful findings were limited to the claimant being required to work on staffed tills on 1 and 9 July 2019. The Tribunal found that staffed tills created particular difficulties because of the claimant’s need for urgent toilet access during flare-ups and the practical difficulty of immediately leaving a customer transaction. It held that the reasonable adjustment was to ensure the claimant was not required to work on staffed tills, and that the respondent had not shown the PCP requiring customer advisers to work on staffed and self-service tills was proportionate in those circumstances.

The remaining disability discrimination allegations were dismissed. The Tribunal found that the claimant was not directly discriminated against, was not treated unfavourably because of something arising from disability, and was not harassed. Some earlier direct discrimination allegations were out of time and, in the alternative, not well-founded.

For constructive unfair dismissal, the Tribunal held that the failure to make reasonable adjustments and the indirect discrimination on 1 and 9 July 2019 amounted to a fundamental breach. However, it found that the claimant affirmed the contract and did not resign in response to that breach. It found that the resignation followed the grievance outcome and the proposed move to the lighting/decor department, and the constructive unfair dismissal claim was dismissed. Remedy for the successful limited discrimination findings was adjourned.