Croft Pets Ltd employed Mrs Butcher as a finance and reception manager increasing her responsibility as they opened new practices and a veterinary hospital. Croft Pets Ltd raised concerns 20 about Mrs Butcher’s performance shortly before she went off work suffering from depression. Croft Pets Ltd referred Mrs Butcher to a private consultant, Dr Parry, who reported that she was suffering from a severe depressive episode as a result of work-related stress and stated that there was no guarantee that Mrs Butcher could return to work, rating her chances as 50/50. He recommended a course of treatment and that Croft Pets Ltd pay for this, which they did not. In November 2010 Mrs Butcher brought a claim for disability discrimination against Croft Pets Ltd.

The Employment Tribunal upheld this appeal holding that Croft Pets Ltd.’s failure to arrange and pay for the psychiatric treatment was a failure to make reasonable adjustments under the Equality Act 2010. Croft Pets Ltd appealed arguing that reasonable adjustments must be “job-related” and it would be outside of this scope to require an employer to fund private medical treatment.

The Employment Tribunal dismissed the appeal, holding that the adjustments were job-related as it was not general medical treatment; rather it was a specific form of treatment that would enable Mrs Butcher to “return to work and cope with the difficulty she had been experiencing at work”. Dr Parry had only given Mrs Butcher a 50/50 chance of being able to return to work, but he did think that the treatment could have a significant impact upon her depression and as such the adjustments were reasonable. http://bit.ly/GKGIJM