Trevor Farley v Sunderland City Council
[2024] EAT 115
Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust v Angela Allen
19 March 2024
[2024] EAT 40
Employment Appeal Tribunal
A hospital trust appealed a ruling that it discriminated against an employee. The appeal court agreed with some of the original ruling but disagreed with others, sending parts of the case back to the lower court to be decided again. The case mainly deals with what counts as discrimination and how to prove it.
Key Facts
- •Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust appealed an Employment Tribunal decision finding age and disability discrimination.
- •The claimant, Angela Allen, alleged various instances of age and disability discrimination during a restructuring exercise, including an age-related harassment claim related to a question about ill-health retirement on an occupational health referral form.
- •The Tribunal upheld some of the claimant's complaints, including age-related harassment related to the ill-health retirement question and the prejudgment of a grievance.
- •The Tribunal also found that the claimant's dismissal was an act of discrimination because of something arising in consequence of disability.
Legal Principles
Age and disability discrimination in employment.
Equality Act 2010
Burden of proof in discrimination claims.
Igen Ltd v Wong [2005] ICR 931
Conduct extending over a period.
Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis v Hendricks [2002] EWCA Civ 1686
Harassment 'related to' a protected characteristic.
Unite the Union v Nailard [2018] EWCA Civ 1203
The tribunal's approach to the burden of proof.
Hewage v Grampian Health Board [2012] UKSC 37
Outcomes
Appeal partially allowed.
The Employment Tribunal erred in upholding the age-related harassment complaint and in concluding that the successful discrimination complaints constituted conduct extending over a period.
Cross-appeal dismissed.
The Employment Tribunal correctly applied the law in relation to the other complaints.
Remitted to the Employment Tribunal.
To determine whether the time limit for the successful complaints should be extended on just and equitable grounds.