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Northern Ireland
Gallop v Newport City Council [2012]
Decision Number:
Published on: 14/09/2012
Issues Covered:
Dismissal
Article Authors The main content of this article was provided by the following authors.
Background This case involved an appeal by an employee against the dismissal of his claim for disability discrimination against the respondent local authority employer. The claim was dismissed on the basis that while the employee was, in fact, disabled his claim for disability discrimination could not succeed because the employer had not had the requisite knowledge. He also appealed against a reduction in his compensatory award following a finding that he had been unfairly dismissed. Over a period of 11 weeks the employee had been awarded both loss of earnings and pay in lieu of notice. The employee had complained of work -related stress and was signed off by the local authority occupational health advisors but not classified as disabled by the advisors. The employee‟s GP diagnosed him as suffering from depression and gave a letter to the local authority detailing this diagnosis. The local authority was repeatedly told by occupational health advisors that the disability discrimination legislation did not apply in this instance. In the meantime, there were unsuccessful attempts between the parties to reach a compromise agreement. The local authority eventually summarily dismissed the employee for gross misconduct.The appeal was allowed in part. The local authority had been entitled to rely on the advice of its occupational health advisors that the employee's medical condition did not fall within the meaning of the legislation. However, the court held that the Tribunal should not have reduced the compensation reward arguing it was the place for such Employment Tribunals to query negotiations between the parties particularly when no waiver of privilege was referred to. The total award for Unfair Dismissal was increased from £33,045 to £60,060. http://bit.ly/RxzETu

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Disclaimer The information in this article is provided as part of Legal Island's Employment Law Hub. We regret we are not able to respond to requests for specific legal or HR queries and recommend that professional advice is obtained before relying on information supplied anywhere within this article. This article is correct at 14/09/2012
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