Mrs Lisa Moy Thomas v Life Build Solutions Limited — 2022

The claimant had worked for the respondent for 11 years and suffered hypothyroidism, which the tribunal accepted met the Equality Act definition of disability. After the Covid-19 pandemic reduced the respondent's sales and workload, the claimant was placed on furlough in April 2020. The tribunal found the furlough decision was mainly driven by the reduced workload and the business response to the pandemic, and it did not amount to unfavourable treatment for the purposes of the section 15 disability discrimination claim.

The tribunal accepted that the respondent later made a genuine redundancy decision because the administrative workload had diminished and the claimant's role was no longer needed as a separate function. It accepted the respondent's view that the administrative assistant role was materially different and did not have to be pooled with the claimant's post, but held that the consultation was procedurally unfair because the possibility of the claimant moving into that role was not meaningfully discussed with her. The tribunal found that even with a fairer process the claimant would have been dismissed at the same time in any event.

The victimisation claim failed because the tribunal found the request for the claimant to return company property was prompted by Mr Adams' suspicion after she had spent time in the office and read emails, not by the protected act of raising discrimination in her appeal. On remedy, the tribunal found the compensatory award was nil because the unfairness made no difference to timing, and the basic award was nil because the claimant's redundancy payment exceeded it, so no compensation was ordered.