Case Details

London Borough of Barnet v Ferguson

18 Sep 2006, EAT, HHJ McMullen QC

Andrew Burns successfully argued that the Employment Tribunal had taken the wrong approach to the test for reasonable adjustments: finding that there was a failure to make adjustments without properly identifying or considering the substantial disadvantage that called for an adjustment in the first place.  The EAT gave guidance that a tribunal must identify: (a) the relevant provisions or practices of the employer; (b) the relevant physical features of the premises occupied by the employer; (c) the identity of non-disabled comparators (where appropriate); and (d) the nature and extent of the substantial disadvantage suffered by the Claimant.  The EAT approved the unreported case of Berriman v Smiths Detection - Watford (2005).