Claimant v The Governing Body of Kingsbury High School

The tribunal found the dismissal unfair due to flaws in the Stage 3 process and reasoning. The panel failed to properly scrutinise the management case, erroneously concluded most of the claimant's work could not be done from home when in fact she could do a sizeable majority of her work (adaptations and other duties) remotely, failed to analyse whether on-site duties could be covered by other staff, and failed to consider alternatives to dismissal such as part-time work from home.

The claimant's COPD and asthma caused genuine and reasonable fear that going into school would cause serious illness through exposure to pollutants and chest infections. This fear resulted in anxiety/stress which caused her incapability to work on-site. The respondent's assessment that she could not perform her role arose in consequence of her disability. The dismissal was not a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim because the respondent failed to analyse whether less discriminatory alternatives (such as working from home or part-time arrangements) were practicable.

The PCP of requiring the claimant to work from school premises put her at substantial disadvantage (increased risk of infections/asthma attacks, fatigue, anxiety). The claimant could carry out the majority of her duties from home (adaptations and other off-site work). The respondent failed to establish it would have been impracticable for on-site duties to be covered by other staff or for the claimant to be offered part-time work from home. The tribunal found the adjustment of allowing the claimant to work from home would have been reasonable.