The EAT considered whether the duty to make reasonable adjustments arose where a disabled employee refused to participate in an interview forming part of a redundancy process.
The employee’s refusal was unconnected to his disability, but rather because he had lost confidence in his employer.
Mr Hilaire suffered from depression and arthritis. As part of a restructuring process, he was required to apply and interview for a role in his employer’s new structure. He was provided with extra time and support to complete his application. He subsequently declined to attend an interview, instead providing a fit note indicating that he could not attend an interview. He was later dismissed by reason of redundancy.
Mr Hilaire brought a reasonable adjustments claim, among other claims. He argued that the requirement to attend interview was a provision, criterion or practice that put him at a substantial disadvantage, and he should have been slotted into a role without interview. An employment tribunal rejected his claim. It concluded that he was not placed at a substantial disadvantage and was able to attend an interview if he wanted to.
However, the real reason for his non-participation had nothing to do with his disability, it was because he had lost confidence in his employer. He made a choice based on his belief that the redundancy process was a means of managing and disguising the reason for his dismissal. His reasonable adjustments claim therefore failed. The EAT observed that slotting him into a role was objectively a step which would have alleviated any disadvantage, but it would have affected other potentially redundant employees. The EAT noted that a reasonable adjustment is not “a vehicle for giving an advantage over and above removing the particular disadvantage”. The tribunal was entitled to consider that, given the surrounding circumstances and impact on other employees, no step (including slotting in) would have been a reasonable step.
Case: Hilaire v Luton Borough Council [2022] EAT 166 (23 November 2022)

James Williams