The claimant was employed as a dog trainer with the respondent from April 2018.  The role was initially full-time but in early 2019 the claimant outlined that there were concerns with the level of work and that he was going to resign citing health reasons.  One of these health reasons was his diagnosis of dyslexia and the level of office work that he was being asked to do.  A further aspect of the job that had led to this was the fact that he was having to take foster dogs to his home and care for them, or his wife would be caring for them when he was at work.  At this point, the claimant then went to part-time working covering c. 19 hours per week. 

The issue arising is there was an intensification in the level of work that was expected with many emails coming from others within the respondent when they would have been dealt with much more informally previously.  At a Board Meeting the fact that some paperwork was being delayed relating to the dog training was discussed.  It was expected that the reports could be done the day after the training yet the claimant was only working part-time at this point.  He then received a letter from the respondent stating that it was agreed that if the part-time hours did not work then the position may be made redundant.  The unhappiness with the ‘slippage’ in the reporting relating to the training continued until July 2019.  

The claimant was invited to a meeting on 4th July to discuss slippage in relation to home visits and sustainability targets.  This was actually a wide-ranging discussion about the nature of the work that he undertook alongside the other part-time worker that had been engaged when his hours had been reduced.   It was discussed again that the jobs may be made redundant.   This continued and the Board recommended that the part-time roles should be made redundant and that a full-time position be created.  On a meeting of 8th July, both the claimant and the other part-time dog trainer were informed that their roles were being made redundant and that they would not have to work their notice.  They could apply for the full-time position and the claimant outlined that it could not work due to injuries and mental health concerns.  He did appeal the decision and his choice of companion was refused. He instead brought his wife and he asked that they would go slower as he had a learning difficulty (dyslexia) and his wife did not have English as her first language.  This seemingly came as a surprise that the claimant had dyslexia at this point even though he had stated it when applying for the role. 

The claimant brought a claim for unfair dismissal.  This claim was successful.  The Tribunal outlined that there was no genuine redundancy situation and instead the dismissal was on the basis of inefficiency.   It was held that the respondent failed to demonstrate a fair reason and they had not followed the statutory minimum procedure in making the dismissal.  A disability discrimination claim was also brought.  It was found that the need for reasonable adjustments was triggered as a result of the claimant’s dyslexia.  It was found that adjustments could have included dividing the reports with another employee, giving additional time to complete the reports and seeking occupational health during the process leading to the dismissal.  None of those steps were made, so a finding of disability discrimination was found. 

Practical Lessons

This case demonstrates yet again demonstrates the need to have the proper procedure in place when there is a possibility of dismissal.  The respondent seemed to be blindsided by the idea of ‘redundancy’ in this case rather than having a full appreciation of the scope of redundancy.  This had a knock-on effect in terms of the procedure that was adopted.  Employers should be mindful of ensuring that the statutory process is followed for dismissal and that where there are employees who are disabled going through such a process, that there are reasonable adjustments made to take account of that. 

NI Tribunal decisions are available on the OITFET website:
http://www.employmenttribunalsni.co.uk/