Mr Warburton v Openreach Ltd — 2023

The claimant brought complaints arising from the respondent's restructuring from January 2020, under which the operations manager role was removed. He said he should have been moved into a grade D or E role without interview; the respondent said he had not demonstrated at interview that he had the skills and experience for a grade D role and had been offered a grade E patch lead role without interview, which he rejected.

The tribunal dismissed the harassment, direct disability discrimination, discrimination arising from disability, victimisation, unauthorised deduction from wages, trade union detriment, and health and safety representative detriment complaints. It found, among other matters, that the respondent's decisions about roles and facilities time were not because of disability, trade union activities, or health and safety representative status, but related to role availability, interview outcomes, and the demands of the patch lead role.

The reasonable adjustments claim and several statutory complaints under the Employment Rights Act 1996, Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992, and health and safety consultation regulations were dismissed on withdrawal. As all claims considered were dismissed or withdrawn, no remedy was awarded.