Disability Discrimination?

Undervalued

Les79 wrote: »

- You are consistently a top performer

Completely irrelevant unless a disability is established, even then it only has limited relevance.

- You had a 1 week dip due to your mental health (disability)

Even if there is a disability it does not automatically mean it was the cause of the "dip".

- You state that you have had a mental health issue for longer than 12 months and it has affected your day to day life throughout that period, thus it is a disability.

No, it may increase the chance of this being a disability, certainly no "thus it is..."

I suggested back in my first post that the OP should seek legal advice as I think it is unlikely she will heed anything she doesn't want to hear on a forum.

Yes, go to a solicitor. Not ACAS and do not rely on a lay adviser at the CAB. If they will direct her to a solicitor at their expense then fine.

Les79

Undervalued wrote: »

I suggested back in my first post that the OP should seek legal advice as I think it is unlikely she will heed anything she doesn't want to hear on a forum.

Yes, go to a solicitor. Not ACAS and do not rely on a lay adviser at the CAB. If they will direct her to a solicitor at their expense then fine.

I wish you wouldn't do the red text! Makes it really hard to address the points you make. Split it up into [ quote ] fjjfjdfj [ /quote ] sections!


I am quoting you here and I can't see your red text without scrolling up and down the page. I *get* why you do it, but it makes it hard to address your points.


That aside, not entirely sure why you chopped up my post... I quoted OP three times and I think that all three combined didn't tell a congruent story...


They are apparently a top performer, but their disability caused a 1 week dip in performance, and they argue that their disability has impacted their life for 12 months plus (not just 1 week as stated).


I would not be so dismissive of OP if their performance had "dipped" for 12 months or more (as per their definition), but it seems to have been only a week?!


I feel we are on a similar wavelength here, but hard to tell!


Aside from that, your "legal advice" advice is sound. I mentioned CAB and ACAS because, whilst they aren't always brilliant, they are two other sources of information.

jonnygee2

Do i have a good case against this company for disability discrimination?

It's difficult to tell, but from the basics of what you have said you may do.

Under conditions that a) this counts as a disability (likely - long term anxiety problem diagnosed by doctor) b) they knew enough about it to be able to establish a disability (likely - you were 'open' with them) c) this disability put you at a substantial disadvantage and d) they did not make reasonable adjustments, then they have broken the law.

It's point c) that, at this stage, it's difficult to tell on. Anxiety has wide ranges - a mild anxiety problem in a normal office wouldn't really be a substantial disadvantage, for example. And you did perform well for some time. But, it could still have caused a sudden downturn in performance.

I think you should collect any evidence (if you have it) of;

- What you told your employer about your anxiety, including any medical reports shared with them

- Their response and anything they did that could be considered reasonable adjustment

- A timeline of events and relevant performance statistics

And then, as a couple of people advised, speak to an employment lawyer.

I have bolded the important bits, and underlined the even more important bits..


But to recap:


- You are consistently a top performer
- You had a 1 week dip due to your mental health (disability)
- You state that you have had a mental health issue for longer than 12 months and it has affected your day to day life throughout that period, thus it is a disability.


I find that very incongruent....

Just to be clear, why is it you think this is important? Is it because you think it is relevant to a disability claim, or just because Les79 finds it incongruent?

Because for a disability claim as far as I can see it really isn't that relevant - the 'long term' descriptor refers to the duration of the condition, it in no way means you have to be affected by the condition equally every single day over that duration. You can (and it is common to have) a disability that reoccurs periodically, this is equally protected under the law.

Masomnia

The way a disability discrimination claim goes is that the burden of proof is initially on the employee to show that there was discrimination on the grounds of disability. So OP would have to show how her medical condition amounted to a disability under the EA 2010, and then that the reason for the less favourable treatment, ie dismissal, bullying etc was her disability. So evidence of what was said in the alleged bullying, the fact that she was dismissed following this or whatever it was.

If the tribunal decides that on the face of it the dismissal could have been due to her disability or a reason connected to it, then the burden of proof falls on the employer to show a fair reason for the dismissal. So while it's true to say that they didn't have to follow proper procedures owing to her length of service, and its easy to say that performance is irrelevant due to length of service it could fall upon the OP's employer to have to defend why why they dismissed her. And if all the evidence points towards OP being a good employee then that helps her case.

As I say though I don't want to give a view on it, but I do think the previous performance reviews and the processes/procedures they followed are relevant if they're alleging that the reason for dismissal is poor performance. It really comes down to whether OP counts as disabled or not, and whether they could reasonably be aware of it. If they were aware she could have a disability did they make reasonable adjustments to help her perform at the level of non-disabled employees? And then if so, would they have dismissed a non-disabled employee in the same way?

Not a straightforward case for me.

henrickson

An interesting case, I have a disability and I work normally with a good salary, I work as a programmer.

TheTechnician

I am in the process of taking an employer to court due to my mental health issues .. and I can confirm with you that long term anxiety, (stress and depression) is classed as a mental health concern. I can't discuss my situation in full on a public forum.

To be classed as having a disability under the equality act / DDA, the following apply:

If the illness impacts your day to day ability, Has been a long term prognosis (benchmark is more than 9 months.)

is a medical professional is aware of your illness as records can back up your claim if it went to a tribunal.

Are you on medication, such as antidepressants or greeting other support to help you with your health

Was your work place aware of your mental health issues ..

Was any adjustments made for your illness or to cater for you.

If you have home - content cover you may have legal insurance added to it .. check your insurance handbook for guidance. You will be able to get guidance for free as part of your policy as employment related issues are normally covered as standard. .. even if it goes to a tribunal.

Hope that helps and good luck.