Mr I. Obumneme v Arriva Rail London Ltd — 2025

The claimant remained employed by the respondent as a station assistant. He was disabled by reason of depression and anxiety at the relevant times. The tribunal found that his 2023 request for parental leave was initially approved by his manager, then postponed after HR advice, and later granted as ordinary unpaid leave. The tribunal dismissed the direct race discrimination claim and the remaining disability-arising discrimination and harassment claims, while recording that the allegations against Ms Stone under those disability claims were dismissed on withdrawal.

The successful claim concerned the application of the respondent's Managing for Attendance policy after a 32-day sickness absence recorded as work-related stress. The tribunal found that the respondent knew enough about the claimant's mental health history to be fixed with constructive knowledge of disability by February 2024. It found that the normal attendance triggers put the claimant at a substantial disadvantage because disability-related absences could move him through the policy more quickly.

The tribunal concluded that Mr Patel should have considered the 2024 absence in its own right, referred the claimant to occupational health, and considered adjustments. It found that adjusted trigger points could probably have been accommodated and that there was a reasonable prospect the claimant would have felt supported and less anxious if that had been done. The tribunal held that the failure to adjust the trigger points was a breach of the duty to make reasonable adjustments, with compensation to be determined later or agreed by the parties.