Disability discrimination costs firm almost £400K

Five months after suffering a stroke a branch manager for Jewson in Wales was dismissed on the grounds of incapacity.

The advice from the employee’s doctor was to avoid stress at work but did not say that he would never make a full recovery from his stroke. In spite of this, Jewson took the view that no role within the company would be without stress and so decided to dismiss him.

In answering the claim for disability discrimination the employer had to disclose statistics about their sickness absence rates, and it revealed that over a two year period prior to the dismissal 204 employees had been allowed more than six months’ absence, and 64 employees more than 12 months’ absence.

The employee made a full recovery within 11 months of his stroke and the Tribunal found that the dismissal amounted to disability discrimination as Jewson had failed to make reasonable adjustments

The £390,870.58 payment is Wales’ highest ever discrimination award, but there have been larger payouts for disability discrimination cases in the UK, including a £792,000 award given to a disabled football journalist for unfair dismissal and unlawful harassment.