Mrs A Shearer v South Lanarkshire Council

EMPLOYMENT TRIBUNALS (SCOTLAND) 5 Case Number: 4107433/2023 Hearing held in Glasgow on 7, 8, 9 and 10 May 2024 Employment Judge M Whitcombe 10 Tribunal Member Mrs P McColl Tribunal Member Mr D Frew Mrs Allison Shearer Claimant 15 Represented by: Mr K McNerney (Counsel) 20 South Lanarkshire Council Respondent Represented by: Mr S O’Neill (Solicitor) 25

JUDGMENT The unanimous judgment of the Tribunal is as follows. 30 (1) The complaint of disability discrimination succeeds. a. The respondent failed to make reasonable adjustments for the claimant’s disability; and b. the respondent also discriminated against the claimant for a 35 reason arising from disability. (2) The complaint of unfair dismissal also succeeds. Case No.: 4107433/2023 Page 2 (...

REASONS Introduction and background 10 1. This claim of unfair dismissal and disability discrimination arises from the claimant’s dismissal for capability and the process leading to that dismissal. Our judgment and reasons are unanimous.

2. The claimant qualified as a teacher in 1987 and soon obtained her first 15 position as an English teacher. She commenced employment with the respondent’s predecessor local authority Strathclyde Regional Council in about November 1991 as a children’s rights worker in Social Work Resources. She was transferred to the newly formed South Lanarkshire Council (the respondent) in about April 1996. ...

3. On 17 June 2022 the respondent required the claimant to move from Clydesdale Support Base in Carluke, where she had taught since 2015, to Kear Secondary School with effect from the start of the new school year in 25 August 2022. The claimant was extremely concerned about the implications of that move and became ill. She commenced a period of absence from work because of work-related stress o...