Recruitment and reasonable adjustments

The potential employer in this case had a recruitment process based on an on-line portal, which required information to be submitted through it and the creation of a personal account.

The Claimant sent in his CV, with a request that he was contacted by telephone for a discussion about his experience because of his disability – dyspraxia.

The company did not call the Claimant as requested, and the Claimant was unsuccessful in his application, resulting in a claim being presented to the Trubunal under the Equality Act. The Tribunal upheld the Claimant’s claim for failure to make reasonable adjustments, and this was confirmed by the EAT. They found that the potential employer had been made aware of the disability and the adjustment requested (a telephone call) and failed to act on this to alleviate the disadvantage for the Claimant.  

The case has been returned to the tribunal for reconsideration regarding an error in the finding of fact relating to the role applied for.

It is important to be aware that the compensation for disability discrimination claims is uncapped and therefore businesses should regularly review recruitment processes as well as internal policies to ensure accessibility and that reasonable adjustments are implemented where necessary.

AECOM_v_Mr_C_Mallon_2023__EAT_104_.pdf (publishing.service.gov.uk)