The Claimant was dismissed by the Respondent due to poor attendance. This poor attendance arose as a consequence of the Claimant’s disabilities.
The Respondent was unaware of the extent of the Claimant’s health as she had concealed the true reasons for her various absences. The Respondent was only aware that she had suffered a number of difficult personal and family circumstances and had experienced stress and distress on occasions as a consequence.
The ET found that the Respondent did not have actual knowledge of the Claimant’s disabilities, but that it had constructive knowledge as it should have made further enquires. However, the EAT did not uphold this decision finding that the ET had failed to ask itself if the Respondent could have reasonably been expected to know of the Claimant’s disability. It felt, that had the Respondent made further enquiries the Claimant would have continued to hide the true facts of her mental health condition.