Case Study: Winning a Complex Disability Discrimination Claim for a Teacher with Autism

How our expert Employment Law team based in our Brighton office helped a teacher with Autism succeed in bringing claims of unfair dismissal, victimisation and disability discrimination in the Employment Tribunal securing a settlement of £850,000.

The situation

Marcus had been employed by Cardinal Newman Catholic School since 2005 and was appointed Head of Maths in 2010. During 2014-2015, Marcus assisted a work colleague, Sam Humber, with his grievance and successful victimisation claims in the Employment Tribunal. The Head Teachers’s evidence was found by the Judge to be “in parts contradictory” and also “deliberately evasive”.

In early 2015, the Head Teacher subjected Marcus to an unfair disciplinary process. He appealed his written warning but was unsuccessful. Marcus felt that he was being punished for assisting his colleague (victimisation). He found it difficult to move on from the unfair warning as he had provided medical evidence that his non-appearance at an external event was due to ill health. He submitted a formal grievance and appeal alleging bullying. This was not upheld. He also conveyed his concerns on several occasions to HR and the School Governors and submitted a Subject Access Request.

This led to Marcus being suspended on full pay in 2017 on the basis that that the employment relationship had irretrievably broken down due to his continued complaints. The School offered a Settlement Agreement of over £100,000 whilst threatening dismissal for gross misconduct. Marcus’s mental health significantly deteriorated as a result of his suspension.

What Martin Searle Solicitors did

Marcus came to our firm for advice on the Settlement Agreement offer. We helped Marcus to make a counter-offer, which was rejected. Marcus decided he was not willing to accept a settlement as his main priority was to keep his job.

In November 2017, Marcus was formally diagnosed with Autism, which affects his behaviour, his relationships and causes associated mental health problems. An investigation report was issued which included colleagues citing Marcus’s continued complaints and alleged difficult behaviours as reasons for a relationship breakdown, which we advised was Autism related. Despite this, the School recommended disciplinary action.

In view of Marcus’s diagnosis, the School arranged a report by the National Autistic Society to gain insight into his disability and recommendations for reasonable adjustments to his Head of Maths role. In addition, a two day mediation took place between Marcus, his line manager and the Head Teacher which ended positively. We helped Marcus to prepare for this mediation by submitting a timeline of events to explain how the situation had evolved, as the School’s instructions to the mediator were one sided.

In November 2018 the School informed Marcus they were refusing to allow him to return to his normal Subject Lead role, primarily due to the alleged relationship breakdown (citing his “behaviours” as the cause of this) as well as their refusal to make the requested adjustments. An alternative role of High Performance Coach was put forward as the only option.

Marcus had worked very hard to be promoted to Head of Maths and was successful in the role with no performance concerns raised prior to his Autism diagnosis. We corresponded directly with the School to help Marcus resist this option and to assert his wish to return to his normal role with the reasonable adjustments requested.

We raised a further grievance which was not upheld and so an appeal was submitted. In response, the School threatened to dismiss Marcus if he did not accept the alternative role. The School also refused to allow an appeal.

We proceeded to issue a Tribunal claim for victimisation, discrimination arising from disability and failure to make reasonable adjustments. The assistance provided to our client was critical to guide him through this complex situation and to keep him employed on full pay for as long as possible.

Due to fear of dismissal, Marcus decided to accept the new role, at the same time informing the School he would continue his existing Tribunal claim for disability discrimination. Marcus was then unfairly dismissed on notice.

We dealt with the preliminary hearing for case management and amended the Tribunal claim to add unfair dismissal and further discrimination and victimisation in relation to the dismissal. A further Preliminary Hearing took place in April 2021 in order to resist the Respondent’s attempt to amend their defence. The case was due to be heard in November 2020 but this was postponed to October 2021.

The result

There was a six day hearing between the 14 – 21 October 2021 and the Judge and lay members reached a unanimous judgement that Marcus’s claims were well-founded and succeeded for unfair dismissal, discrimination arising from disability (arising primarily from his disability of Autism) and victimisation relating to his own discrimination complaints. The hearing was a hybrid hearing as Marcus was given permission as a reasonable adjustment to attend the hearing remotely. The Employment Tribunal Judge found that “No reasonable employer would have dismissed the claimant in these circumstances, particularly as the reason for dismissal amounted to victimisation.”

The first part of the Remedies Hearing took place on 25 and 26 April 2024, where all the evidence was heard, including expert medical evidence about Marcus’s mental health and ability to work as a teacher.  Due to the complexity of the remedy issues,  the Tribunal met again in August 2024 to hear submissions and to deliberate.

On the first day of the resumed Remedies Hearing, a settlement was reached by Marcus and the School,  and recorded by the Tribunal. Marcus achieved a settlement of £850,000, including £750,000 from a combination of injury to feelings, loss of earnings (past and future) and pension loss, with an additional £25,000 to cover his legal fees and £75,000 for psychiatric damage as the joint medical report confirmed he had PTSD as a result of this discriminatory behaviour.  Marcus had already received his basic award for unfair dismissal of around £9,000 from the School.

Marcus felt vindicated and was pleased to finally receive compensation for the unfair and discriminatory treatment which had a profound effect on his mental health and ability to find a new job.

For expert advice about disability discrimination in the workplace, contact our employment law team on 01273 609911, or email info@ms-solicitors.co.uk for expert advice.