In the case of Bugden v Royal Mail Group the Claimant, Mr Bugden was dismissed following periods of ill-health related absence. He brought employment tribunal claims for both unfair dismissal and disability discrimination which included a claim for a failure to make reasonable adjustments. These claims all failed in the Employment Tribunal (ET).
The Claimant appealed to the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) on the following grounds:
- The Tribunal should have considered if the Claimant moving to another role could have been an appropriate reasonable adjustment. During the tribunal proceedings the panel heard evidence that the Claimant’s impairments were exacerbated by his manager’s behaviour;
- The option of moving to another role, and the fact that this was not considered impacted the fairness of the dismissal.
The Claimant had not raised the above points within either his pleaded case or during the proceedings in the ET. The EAT did not uphold the Claimant’s appeal on ground a) above but did allow the appeal in respect of b) his dismissal. The consideration of redeployment to another role is a necessary part of ill-health related dismissals. It is something the ET should have addressed even if not raised by the parties themselves. The issue of redeployment was relevant to the question as to whether dismissing the Claimant was within the range of reasonable responses.
Take heed of this judgment. When considering the dismissal of someone on ill-health absence grounds you must ensure you have explored redeployment.
If you are an individual facing dismissal on ill health incapacity, you need to ensure, in any internal process, that redeployment is actively considered as an alternative to dismissal. If it’s not you may have a legal claim.
This blog was written by Elizabeth McGlone, Partner at didlaw
