Analysis and commentary by Reed Smith attorneys on developments in employment and labor law
In Donelien v Liberata, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (“EAT”) has held that an employer did not have constructive knowledge of an employee’s disability, even though further steps could have been taken to investigate her condition.
Background
Under the Equality Act 2010, employers are obliged to make reasonable adjustments to help disabled employees overcome disadvantages…
In our previous blog, “Are obese workers protected from discrimination” , we confirmed the advocate general’s opinion in the case of Kaltoft v Municipality of Billund (case C-354/13) that while obese workers were not automatically covered by EU disability discrimination law, the worker may be considered to be disabled where he or she is “severely…
Summary
An opinion on whether an obese worker is protected under discrimination law has been issued by Advocate General Jääskinen. It was found that while obese workers are not automatically covered, where a worker is "severely, extremely or morbidly obese", the worker may be considered to be disabled and therefore protected under discrimination law.
We…
In Cordell v the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (UKEAT/0016/11), the UK Employment Appeal Tribunal (“EAT”) considered whether an employer’s refusal to provide lip-speaking support to a deaf employee was unreasonable based on cost alone. The EAT provided guidance on how Tribunals might put costs considerations into context when considering reasonable adjustments for disabled employees but…
In the case of Mayor and Burgesses of the London Borough of Lewisham v Malcolm, the House of Lords has made potentially major changes to the law on disability-related discrimination. Although the case concerns issues to do with housing, the Lords’ decision will make it more difficult for employees to bring certain DDA claims. Particularly noteworthy is that the House of Lords concluded that the well-established ‘comparator’ test for DDA purposes, laid down by the Court of Appeal in the 1999 Clark v Novacold case, is incorrect.Continue Reading House of Lords reforms approach to disability-related discrimination cases