Employment Tribunal

[MarillStreep]

What’s my chance of winning Employment Tribunal case?

Was employed there for three years. (Unfair dismissal, failure to make reasonable adjustments and discrimination arising from disability)

Was sacked under employer’s capability procedure due to ten sickness absences over three years. Seven of those sickness absences were related to my disabilities, which the employer knew about.

Was taken through capability procedure because of my disability related sickness absences. If I did not suffer with these disabilities, I would not have been sacked.

Employer refused to implement my reasonable adjustment request twice. Stating that every employee had to be treated the same. The reasonable adjustment would have prevented my dismissal.

I had one OH assessment throughout my employment. At the time of my dismissal, it was a year old. I was not offered another OH assessment after this one.

I was never asked if my boss could contact my GP for a medical report or for them to access my medical records. However, the employer have said in their Grounds of Resistance that I “failed to provide medical evidence”, but they never asked me for medical evidence…

No one on here can tell you this. Each case hangs on its facts. I would start the process with Acas and think what money you would like and start with that.

Do you have union support op? They sound terrible. Was there a hr department?

I’ve already done that, I should have said that in my post - sorry. My claim is already before the tribunal

I do. Yes, they had a HR department. In fact, their HR manager looked absolutely horrified at my dismissal meeting.

I sometimes wonder whether the employer refused to follow their HR manager’s advice. I doubt any HR manager would advise to sack someone in these circumstances…

Many HR depts get railroaded by ego mad managers - I would like to know how this is allowed and why companies have this set up.

I’d like to know that too. I suppose it’s something that can be asked when cross-examining.

Like, why bother hiring a HR manager if they aren’t going to follow their advice (assuming this is what happened in my case)

I agree with you 100% what’s the point of having HR?!

With regards to winning it depends on the evidence presented by both sides. Have you had the bundles exchanged yet etc ? A friend of mine won against a toxic employer last year but it was a full time job sorting all the paperwork etc. have you read the cases available on the gov uk website ?

I have a lot of evidence, tbh. Emails asking for reasonable adjustments and emails from the employer stating that they are refusing to implement my reasonable adjustment requests because they “have to treat everyone the same.”

Lots of correspondence reporting my absences due to my (named) disabilities. Letters setting out my formal warnings because of my absences (stating my disabilities). Meeting minutes too, where I was not offered reasonable adjustments or an additional OH assessment etc.

Their absence policy, which highlights the duty to make reasonable adjustments and the “special rules” that apply to disability-related absences. And interestingly how the trigger points are
“guidelines only” 😁

Nonetheless, they were hell bent on treating me the same as everyone else 🙁

A big congratulations to your friend. It really is like a full time job. They refused to listen to my
cries for help and made me feel humiliated and invisible. They can ignore me, but they can’t ignore a judge!

Good luck! If as simple as stated I hope you wipe the floor with them and teach them what the words reasonable adjustments mean.

Do you have a hearing date?

Thank you, so much. I’m planning on wiping the floor with them, though it won’t be as easy as that. Yes, we have a final hearing date

It will depend on what adjustments you asked for as to whether they are reasonable remember. They do need to fall within "reasonable" and not all requests do. Was this ever addressed?

How long did the 10 sickness absences equate to?

I asked for my disability-related absences to be recorded separately from their sickness and absence policy. Employer refused telling me that everyone had to be treated the same

The ten absences were a total of seventeen working days (over a period of three years). Was this what you were asking?

Out of my ten absences, seven of them were disability related.

The remaining three absences were for ailments, such as an infection, stomach bug and flu… (I expected these to be treated in accordance to their absence policy.) Unfortunately, all of my absences were counted towards the policy…

Never ask a question in cross examination that you don’t already know the answer to.

i have experience in this field. Tribunals can be a lottery even when you think you have a good case.

it’s your interpretation that the HR manager looked horrified. It will come down to facts. Did they consider reasonable adjustments?
these adjustments aren’t mandatory- they only have to be reasonable and if they are too costly or not possible to implement , then they don’t have to.
My advice is try hard to remove the emotion from what is of course a difficult situation and approach it dispassionately and from the legal perspective .

Noted 😊

Thank you. I’ll certainly follow your advice. I’m about to read through my witness statement and look for and then remove any emotive language

Definitely this. Be able to state clearly what you asked for, how it could be done, and their reasons why not.

It's very difficult to win a discrimination case without representation. They are complex. They can dismiss you for disability related absences if they mean you can't do the job. Reasonable adjustments can be requested but are not mandatory. Also disability has a particular meaning in law and you need to establish that you qualify. Unfair dismissal is more likely if they didn't follow a proper process but if they did then there us not much chance there

Do you have a solicitor op? I would get one asap and try to negotiate a settlement. Employment tribunals are a huge amount of work and awards are often quite small

Thanks. I know they’re complex, but I do know the legal tests. They’ve conceded one of my disabilities, but not the other. Thankfully, I can prove that I’m a disabled person at all relevant times and I can also prove that they knew at all relevant times too.

I don’t have a solicitor, but I have a union representing me

Did you include evidence that they knew that you were registered disabled? Also have you done a subject access request as these sometimes pull up more dirt. Let us know how you get on after the hearing!

I’m disclosing my medical records and my one OH report, stating that I was likely to be considered disabled under the EA2010. However this OH report doesn’t reference one of my disabilities, but I have my medical records ready to be disclosed.

I also have emails and WhatsApp correspondence informing the employer of my difficulties at work due to my disabilities. They’re ready to be disclosed too.