Reasonable adjustments

Case 5: The facts

Miss Macklin suffered from diabetes and depression. She was on long- term sick leave for more than two years and was eventually dismissed after saying that she could not foresee that she would be able to return to work.

She brought claims of disability discrimination on the grounds that her employer had failed to make reasonable adjustments and that the dismissal was unlawful because it related to her disability. An employment tribunal upheld her claims and the employer appealed.

The ruling

The EAT said the tribunal’s decision could not stand as it had not been based on the correct legal test. The tribunal should have asked how Macklin was placed at a disadvantage compared with non-disabled employees doing the same work; instead, it simply asked what steps could have been taken to improve matters for her. In respect of one alleged failure to make adjustments, the tribunal had not even identified what disadvantage the claimant had suffered; in the second, it had not identified what reasonable adjustments the employer should reasonably have made to prevent her facing the disadvantage, especially since Macklin had made it clear she could not foresee ever returning.

The case was sent to a different employment tribunal to be heard again.