Mrs Janet Cable v Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust — 2023

Mrs Janet Cable brought claims including unfair dismissal and disability discrimination. At the preliminary hearing she confirmed that there was no separate sex discrimination claim, and the salary issue was a loss item linked to the disability discrimination claim. The unfair dismissal claim was later withdrawn, leaving the final hearing to determine the reasonable adjustments complaint. The respondent conceded that the claimant met the statutory definition of disability from 25 November 2020 in relation to her left shoulder, and that it knew of the disability during the material period.

The tribunal found that the claimant had made clear during the consultation process that she did not want to transfer to the Housekeeper role at all, principally because she objected to the food-service element of the job. It found that the respondent did not apply a provision, criterion or practice requiring her to discharge the full duties of a Housekeeper from 4 January 2021, because the respondent intended from the outset to make adjustments and to use Occupational Health and workplace assessment input. The tribunal accepted that the claimant would have had difficulty with tasks involving lifting, hot food, ovens, the dishwasher and heavier items, but it found that the respondent was not requiring her to perform those tasks as part of an unadjusted role.

The Occupational Health report of 6 April 2021 and the Williams workplace assessment of 11 May 2021 identified restrictions including no lifting over 2.5 kilograms and avoiding tasks such as removing trays from the oven, carrying plates, loading the dishwasher and reaching for plates on the trolley. The tribunal accepted that the respondent sought a further on-the-job assessment so that the practical effect of those recommendations could be understood in the workplace, and it held that this was a reasonable step rather than an attempt to ignore the recommendations. When the claimant later returned to work, first on adjusted duties in August 2021 and then again by agreement in November 2021, the tribunal found that her duties had been reduced so that they did not require the full food-service tasks that she said would disadvantage her.

The tribunal concluded that the claimant's unhappiness with the Housekeeper role was not because she was placed at a substantial disadvantage by reason of her disability, but because she did not want the role to change following the restructure and regarded the job as less congenial than her previous Ward Assistant post. It held that, even if a PCP requiring Housekeeper duties had been applied, the evidence showed that the respondent had agreed and implemented adjustments sufficient to avoid the disadvantage relied upon. All claims were therefore dismissed.