An employee has won more than £600,000 in compensation having successfully brought a claim for discrimination arising from disability after being dismissed for showing an 18-rated horror film, Halloween, to a class of 15 and 16-year olds.
About the Case
Phillip Grosset suffers from cystic fibrosis requiring him to spend up to three hours a day facilitating his breathing.
Following a change of head teacher, Mr Grosset's workload increased. As a result of his condition, Mr Grosset struggled to cope with the additional demands placed on him. He suffered stress, which in turn exacerbated his cystic fibrosis.
During this period, Mr Grosset took two lessons of 15 and 16-year-olds over the course of which he showed the film Halloween. When the head teacher later discovered this, Mr Grosset was dismissed for gross misconduct.
Mr Grosset claimed unfair dismissal and that the dismissal amounted to discrimination arising from a disability.
Did the Claimant’s Disability Lead to His Dismissal?
Discrimination arising from a disability is a particular form of disability discrimination, and in general terms is decided using a two-stage test:
1. Did the claimant’s disability cause, have the consequence of, or result in ‘something’?
2. Did the employer treat the claimant unfavourably because of that ‘something’?
A key basis for Mr Grosset’s argument that he had been discriminated against was that the increased workload had reduced the amount of time available to him to manage his cystic fibrosis and the increased stress led to his error of judgement (the ‘something’).
The tribunal found that Mr Grosset had not been unfairly dismissed, however that there was a causal link between Mr Grosset’s disability and his conduct. They found that he had shown the film due to the exceptionally high stress he was suffering, which arose from the effect of his disability under increased work demands.
It also found that his employer had treated him unfavourably by dismissing him for the misconduct. The decision was upheld by both the EAT and the Court of Appeal.
The case demonstrates that an employer can be held liable for discrimination arising from disability when it has dismissed an employee for misconduct without being aware that the employee's actions were due to their disability.
Mr Grosset has been awarded almost £650,000 to compensate him for loss of future earnings and loss of pension, as well as compensation for the discrimination itself.
Have You Been Unfairly Dismissed?
If you have recently been released from your position and feel it was wrongful, you may have a claim. Get in touch with our employee law solicitors to discuss your case today.
