J Parnell v Royal Mail Group Ltd
[2024] EAT 130
D Gibbons v K Chinambu & Anor
26 January 2023
[2023] EAT 50
Employment Appeal Tribunal
A woman was unfairly fired. The judge said the company didn't look hard enough for other jobs for her because of her illness, and that also counted as discrimination. The judge sent the case back to be looked at again to see if the firing was justified and whether it was harassment.
Key Facts
- •Miss Gibbons was employed from September 1988 until her dismissal in September 2018.
- •She had two disabilities: sickle cell anaemia and a spinal condition.
- •There was a long-standing conflict between Gibbons and her manager, Chinambu.
- •Gibbons was absent from work due to ill health from May 2017.
- •A mediation process revealed an irretrievable breakdown in her working relationships with colleagues.
- •Gibbons was dismissed in September 2018 due to her inability to work outside the Wandsworth branch (due to health concerns) and the irretrievable breakdown of relationships at that branch.
- •Her appeal against dismissal was unsuccessful.
- •The Employment Tribunal found the dismissal unfair due to insufficient investigation into alternative solutions.
Legal Principles
Unfair dismissal: The employer must show the reason (or principal reason) for dismissal and that it is a potentially fair reason.
Section 98 Employment Rights Act 1996
Disability discrimination arising from disability: Unfavourable treatment because of something arising in consequence of disability is discriminatory unless proportionate to a legitimate aim.
Section 15 Equality Act 2010
Harassment related to disability: Unwanted conduct related to a protected characteristic is harassment if it violates dignity or creates an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment.
Section 26 Equality Act 2010
The 'because of' test in Section 15 is the same as for direct discrimination; it can encompass multiple contributing reasons.
Case law (cited but not explicitly named in the judgment)
The 'related to' test in Section 26 is a looser connection than the 'because of' test.
Case law (cited but not explicitly named in the judgment)
Outcomes
Appeal allowed in part.
The Employment Tribunal erred by only considering the principal reason for dismissal (breakdown in relationships) when assessing the disability discrimination and harassment claims, failing to consider the contributing reason of Gibbons' inability to work outside Wandsworth due to her disability.
Section 15 claim (discrimination arising from disability): Successful (but justification to be reconsidered by the Tribunal).
The Tribunal's finding that Gibbons was dismissed partly because of her inability to work outside Wandsworth due to her disability is upheld.
Section 26 claim (harassment): Remitted to the Tribunal.
The Tribunal must reconsider whether Gibbons' dismissal was 'related to' her disability, considering both contributing reasons for the dismissal.
Unfair dismissal claim: Upheld (as originally decided by the Tribunal).
The dismissal was unfair due to the employer's failure to properly investigate alternatives before dismissal.