: Ms P McColl Mr J Gallacher Ms C McMahon v Unite the Union — 2023

The claimant, a member of the respondent union, claimed disability discrimination by failure to make reasonable adjustments in relation to access to the respondent's legal advice and assistance scheme. She said that because of depression, anxiety and PTSD she could not in 2013 comply with the scheme requirements to contact the union before commencing proceedings and to use a panel firm, and in 2022 sought funding for her existing non-panel solicitor to continue with proceedings and appeals.

The respondent accepted that the claimant was disabled, that it knew of her disability from 17 November 2022, and that it applied the relevant PCP. The Tribunal found, however, that the PCP did not put the claimant at the substantial disadvantage relied upon. It considered the claimant's evidence inconsistent as to whether she had been unable to contact the union or had not remembered her membership, accepted evidence that the scheme could have been accessed by methods including email or letter, and noted that the claimant had undertaken substantial written and tribunal-related activity during the relevant period.

The Tribunal concluded that the duty to make reasonable adjustments was not engaged and dismissed the claim. It added that, even if the duty had been engaged, it would not have found the requested adjustment reasonable, given the elapsed time since the claims began, the stage of the proceedings and appeals, the scheme's merits requirements, the limited circumstances in which appeals were supported, and the cost of funding a non-panel solicitor.