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Former sportsman wins important disability discrimination case

A former sportsman has won compensation totalling nearly £195,000 under disability discrimination legislation after he was sacked from his job and cut off from further access to his company’s private health insurance scheme.

The former sportsman from Lincolnshire – Mr X - was dismissed after having to take long periods off work due, in part, to the long-term effects of injuries received during his sporting career.

Employment law specialists at Lincolnshire and East Yorkshire solicitors Bridge McFarland, who brought the case on Mr X’s behalf, say the decision of an Employment Tribunal at Nottingham should be noted by all employers who operate private health and medical insurance schemes.

The tribunal found that it was unreasonable for the company to sack Mr X because the dismissal meant the loss of his private health insurance. Instead, the company should have kept him “on the books” so that he could continue to receive payments and benefits under the scheme.

Bridge McFarland partner and head of employment Richard Parnell said: “Our client was unfortunate enough to suffer two serious accidents at work and also had to undergo several operations on his knees.

“The tribunal acknowledged that, over a long period, the company acted reasonably and with great patience in its dealings with our client. For instance, he was offered a part-time, office-based administration post for a time and the company operated excellent health and medical schemes.

“However, after further periods of absence due to surgery, the company decided that there was no reasonable prospect of him returning to work and his employment was terminated. This did not, in itself, amount to discrimination on grounds of disability because, as the tribunal found, the company might well have sacked a non-disabled employee in similar circumstances.

“However, it seems that no-one at the company considered the effect that dismissal would have on Mr X’s health and medical insurances, which were a contractual benefit of his employment.

“Not only were his benefits cut off, but Mr X was held liable by a hospital to pay for an operation that had been promised under the scheme.

“We argued at the tribunal that, when he was dismissed, Mr X was disadvantaged in comparison to an able-bodied employee by having his insurance benefits withdrawn. The tribunal agreed and found that there was an implied term in his contract of employment that he would not be dismissed while incapacitated for work and therefore in need of the scheme’s benefits.

“The law says that companies must make reasonable adjustments to help disabled employees and, in this case, the tribunal found that the reasonable adjustment the company should have made was to refrain from sacking him. The fact that the company had made one ‘reasonable adjustment’ in offering Mr X the office-based job did not absolve the company from its duty to make other adjustments.”

The tribunal awarded compensation of just under £195,000 to Mr X to reflect his loss of health and medical insurance benefits, loss of pension entitlements and injury to feelings.

Mr Parnell said: “This extremely large award reflected the financial loss suffered by our client and the seriousness with which tribunals treat cases of disability discrimination. We urge all employers to take note of the case and to take professional advice when dealing with disability cases.”