Disability and discrimination

A recent Court of Appeal decision reaffirms the limits of the offence of direct discrimination.

A director in the hedge funds team at JP Morgan badly injured his back in a skiing accident and was subsequently unable to work full time. His disability had a direct impact on his ability to work the necessary hours to increase his client base. As a result he was awarded a lower bonus (down to $450,000 from $798,000 in the preceding year) and was subsequently made redundant. 

The Employment Tribunal found that the connection between his inability to work the relevant hours and his disability was sufficient for his treatment to amount to direct discrimination. However, the Court of Appeal reasserted the correct interpretation.  Less favourable treatment must arise because of the disability itself in order for there to be direct discrimination.

The Tribunal should have compared the claimaint to a non-disabled person who was also unable to work the relevant hours.  That comparator would have been treated in the same way and so no disability-related discrimination arose. 

The Equality Act 2010 has now replaced disability-related discrimination with the new offence of discrimination arising in consequence of a disability. If that claim had been available, he would have stood a good chance of success (subject to the employer being able to show justification).

The case can be found here.