Ms L Quigley of Counsel For the v Respondent — 2020

Mr Arthur Moan was recruited in March 2018 to lead a new UK sales function for Optimal Strategix Group Limited. The tribunal found the respondent knew by the start of employment that he was a paraplegic wheelchair user, and by 12 April 2018 it knew his wheelchair use was permanent. No occupational health referral, risk assessment, or meaningful discussion of adjustments was undertaken, and the claimant was repeatedly kept away from the office after early April 2018.

On the reasonable adjustments claim, the tribunal held that the respondent imposed PCPs requiring home working, requiring other staff to be present before the claimant could work in the office, and delaying engagement with Access to Work until an office move was complete. Those PCPs placed him at a substantial disadvantage because they removed his choice to work in the office, limited direct contact with colleagues, and delayed practical support. The separate allegation about meetings with colleagues at his home office was dismissed because the tribunal did not regard it as a PCP.

On direct disability discrimination, the tribunal found that between late June and late August 2018 the claimant's role and team were effectively reduced, including removal of direct reports and the appointment of Dave Culley with a direct line to RS. It also found that he was excluded from a three-day sales meeting in the USA at the end of July 2018 and from the Cargotec presentation in Sweden on 28 August 2018. The tribunal rejected the respondent's restructure and business-judgment explanations and held that the claimant's disability was a material factor in each detriment.

On discrimination arising from disability, the tribunal held that the performance improvement plan imposed on 29 August 2018, the lack of meaningful support during it, the travel exclusions, and the eventual dismissal all arose from consequences of the claimant's disability and from problems the respondent perceived in dealing with his disability. The respondent did not establish justification. By consent, wrongful dismissal was well-founded, with damages left for a remedy hearing, and the ordinary unfair dismissal claim was withdrawn because the claimant lacked qualifying service. The tribunal found there was a continuing discriminatory state of affairs, so timing points did not bar the disability claims.