Equality Act in Action

A number of important cases have been brought by people who feel they have been treated unfairly by employers because of their mental health problems. Mind's legal unit have summarised the legal case and the decisions that were made for the most important of these recent cases. Click on the the case name to download the full report.

X v Mid Sussex CAB

Many people look for unpaid voluntary work as a way of gaining experience that will help them into long-term employment. This case shows that it is very unlikely that a disabled volunteer who feels that he or she has been poorly treated by the organisation that they work for would be able to claim for unlawful discrimination.

J v DLA Piper

Sometimes an employer does not accept that an employee’s health condition counts as a disability. This means that a claimant needs to show that it does count, before going on to show how the employer discriminated. This case makes clear that evidence from a GP is very useful for this purpose and as a result it will not always be necessary to get an expensive expert’s opinion about the claimant’s disability. This should simplify things for both parties.

Fareham College Corporation v Walters

Employers have a duty to make reasonable adjustments for disabled employees. This can mean that working arrangements may need to be changed, or that decision-making procedures should be adapted. This case makes clear that when taking a decision about dismissing an employee who has a disability, an employer should first consider what reasonable adjustments could be made to assist the employee to return to work. If this is not done then taking the decision to dismiss may be a failure to make a reasonable adjustment.

Goodwin v Patent Office

It is not always easy to show that a particular health condition is a disability coming within the definition now set out in section 6 of the Equality Act 2010 (originally in section 1 of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995). A ‘disability’ is defined as:

• a physical or mental impairment
• which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect
• on the ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.

This case sets out a test for deciding if someone has a disability.

SCA Packaging Ltd v Boyle

Sometimes an employer does not accept that an employee’s health condition counts as a disability. This means that a claimant needs to show that it does, before going on to show how the employer discriminated. The employee may be taking medication or have ways of coping with the condition – and may seem to manage well. Even so he or she can still be regarded as a disabled person, and be protected from discrimination. This case made it a little easier for someone to show that they have a disability, when it may seem to others that they do not.