Miss J Waite v The Commissioners for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs — 2019

The claimant, who had dyslexia accepted by the respondent as a disability for the purposes of the proceedings, alleged discrimination arising from disability, failure to make reasonable adjustments, harassment related to disability and victimisation. The Tribunal extended time where necessary on just and equitable grounds, noting the claimant's employment context, the attempts to resolve matters internally, and the lack of significant prejudice to the respondent in preparing its case.

The Tribunal found that the respondent and the claimant's line manager had genuine performance and timekeeping concerns. It found that the claimant had received support including mentoring, adjusted visual display settings, removal of call time targets, extra development time, occupational health input and referral to Access to Work. It accepted that some comments by the line manager were ill-advised or harsh, but found they were connected to performance, support, or the claimant's employment situation rather than to disability, and did not have the prohibited purpose or effect required for harassment.

The Tribunal found that the claimant was dismissed because of lateness and failure to follow absence reporting procedures, and that dyslexia did not cause or contribute to that decision or the appeal decision. It also found no evidence linking alleged protected acts to the treatment complained of, and no basis on which the burden of proof shifted under s.136 Equality Act 2010. All pleaded disability discrimination, harassment and victimisation complaints were therefore dismissed, and all other complaints were dismissed on withdrawal.