Appeal allowed where the Tribunal had failed to address one of the many claims that had been made by the claimant.  The claimant had a right for it to be addressed and so the case was remitted.

The claimant worked with the respondent from 1999 – from 2014 she worked as Surgical Site Surveillance Nurse until her dismissal by way of redundancy in January 2021.  The claimant brought a series of claims relating to disability discrimination, protected disclosure detriment and unfair dismissal.  These were initially dismissed by the Tribunal and the claimant appealed to the EAT.

The issue raised by the claimant was that despite the Tribunal having to consider a whole range of claims and complaints made by the complaint they had erred in failing to consider one element of her claim under Section 15 of the Equality Act 2010 which relates to discrimination arising from disability. It should be noted that it related to one of 12 separate claims being made under Section 15. The claimant also claimed that the decision finding the dismissal as fair was made in error as they had failed to consider redeployment into a specific role which was available in 2020. 

The EAT acknowledged the wide range of claims that the Tribunal had to adjudicate upon but stated there was an inescapable conclusion that there was no decision made on the claim relating to Section 15 of the Equality Act 2010.   The Tribunal had simply overlooked it and it should be addressed. The EAT held that the same Tribunal could determine that issue. On the second ground, it was dismissed as the Tribunal had rightly considered the band of reasonable responses test relating to the reasonable employer and if the employer felt it was reasonable that offering a role would be futile then that would be a relevant factor which the Tribunal would take into account when determining reasonableness. 

This decision should be taken into account by the Tribunal and ensuring that there is a distinct line made between the claims made by the claimant and the decisions made through the judgment.  In many judgments, especially those of the Northern Ireland Industrial Tribunal, the heads of claim are well set out at the beginning of the judgment and this then allows for completeness between those heads of claim and the decisions being made.  Such process is helpful in ensuring justice for those who come before the Tribunal as well as avoiding such procedural appeals.

You can read the case in full here.