Ms N Ellis v Stockport Homes Limited — 2021

Ms N Ellis brought claims against Stockport Homes Limited including deductions from wages, disability discrimination, unfair dismissal and wrongful dismissal. At the outset of the judgment, the tribunal recorded that the unauthorised deduction from wages complaint and the disability discrimination complaint about unlawful deductions from wages were dismissed on withdrawal by the claimant.

The tribunal held that it had no jurisdiction to consider several disability discrimination complaints because they were presented out of time. Those out-of-time matters included allegations of harassment during sickness absence, the first and second stage warnings, an alleged pre-determination of dismissal and discussion of dismissal in the office, the stage 3 sickness interview, and reasonable adjustments complaints about set hours, hot desking, use of a phone without a headset, and driving.

On the merits, the tribunal rejected the disability discrimination complaint that the respondent breached the sickness/absence procedure by failing to offer a non-competitive interview for another role and by failing to agree how best contact would be maintained. It also rejected the complaint that the claimant was dismissed on 29 August 2018 for saying she was going to Malta to run a bar. The reasonable adjustments complaint about the sickness absence procedure and attendance at review meetings succeeded only in part: it was well founded to the extent that, for the claimant's mental impairment, the respondent required her between May 2018 and 29 August 2018 to attend a stage 3 meeting, but the remainder was not well founded.

The tribunal dismissed the unfair dismissal claim, upheld the wrongful dismissal claim, and stated that remedy for the successful complaints would be determined at a later hearing on 17 March 2022.