Past disability

Case 2: The facts

In 1977, Mr Slaney suffered a crush injury to his foot and was registered disabled. Over 30 years later he was dismissed on grounds of medical incapacity, following absences resulting from an injury at work to his back and leg.

Stanley brought claims of unfair dismissal and disability discrimination, but a tribunal dismissed the disability claim on the grounds that he was not disabled under the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA).

The ruling

The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) held that a claimant who has been registered disabled in the past will still come under the provisions of the DDA on the grounds that s/he had a past disability, regardless of whether they would currently meet the definition.

Although Slaney’s foot injury was not the immediate cause of his dismissal, the EAT accepted that it may have played a part because it contributed to his unsuitability for heavy work. This was one of the rare circumstances in which a new point of law was allowed to be introduced on appeal, because Slaney had been unrepresented and had not known of the key legal point.

Slaney v Culina Logistick GMBH t/a Cullina Logistics UKEAT/0292/05