High Court judge quashes refusal by council of disabled facilities grant – Local Government Lawyer

‘Councils cannot treat disabled facilities grant (DFG) applications from council tenants differently to those from others, the High Court has ruled.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 3rd April 2020

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

NICE amends Covid-19 critical care guideline after judicial review threat – Local Government Lawyer

‘The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (‘NICE’) has changed the COVID-19 guideline for clinical care after being threatened with a judicial review challenge.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 1st April 2020

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Families of disabled children threaten legal challenge over government limit on outdoor exercise – Local Government Lawyer

‘A pre-action protocol letter has been sent to the Government calling on it to reconsider the policy that all citizens are only permitted to leave the house for exercise once per day.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 1st April 2020

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Crown prosecutor with PTSD was not discrimination victim – Legal Futures

‘An experienced Crown prosecutor who resigned after developing post-traumatic stress order (PTSD) from being threatened at a magistrates’ court was not discriminated against, an employment tribunal has ruled.’

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Legal Futures, 26th March 2020

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Long term disability benefits: it all depends on the contract – 3PB

‘This appeal concerned a provision about long term disability benefit (“LTDB”) which formed part of the Claimant’s contract of employment. It provided for the employee to receive a Disability Income of 2/3rds of his Base Annual Salary less the State Invalidity Pension should he be absent from, and unable to, work due to sickness or injury for a continuous period of twenty-six weeks or more, which would commence twenty-six weeks after the start of his absence and continue until the earlier date of his “return to work, death or retirement”.’

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3PB, 2nd March 2020

Source: www.3pb.co.uk

Disability Discrimination: Chief Constable of Gwent Police v Parsons and Roberts – Old Square Chambers

‘The Claimants were two police officers aged 48 and 44 who were disabled under Equality Act 2010 (EqA). Because they were also unable to carry out the normal duties of a police officer, they were both awarded “H1 certificates” by the Force Medical Officer, which among other things, gave them the right to have immediate access to their pension (which would otherwise be deferred) if they left the police force before their normal retirement age.’

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Old Square Chambers, 3rd March 2020

Source: www.oldsquare.co.uk

SRA: “Solicitors conceal disability for fear of harming careers” – Legal Futures

‘Many disabled solicitors have downplayed the extent of their disability because they do not trust law firms to meet their needs, research has revealed.’

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Legal Futures, 16th March 2020

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

DWP employees with disabilities paid almost £1m in discrimination cases across four years – The Independent

‘The Department for Work and Pensions has had to pay out almost £1m to employees with disabilities in discrimination cases in the space of four years.’

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The Independent, 9th March 2020

Source: www.independent.co.uk

ICTS (UK) Ltd v Visram (2020) EWCA 202 – Old Square Chambers

‘Do the words “return to work” in a long-term disability scheme mean return to any work or the work that the employee was undertaking prior to going on long term sickness?’

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Old Square Chambers, 24th February 2020

Source: www.oldsquare.co.uk

Claimant fails in judicial review challenge over Qualified One-Way Costs-Shifting and discrimination claims – Local Government Lawyer

‘A High Court judge has rejected a judicial review challenge over an asserted decision of the Lord Chancellor not to extend Qualified One-Way Costs-Shifting (QOCS) to discrimination claims in the County Court and/or the failure to extend QOCS to such claims.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 24th February 2020

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Court rejects judicial review over failure to extend QOCS – Litigation Futures

‘The High Court has rejected a challenge to the Ministry of Justice’s (MoJ) failure to extend qualified one-way costs shifting (QOCS) to discrimination claims in the county court.’

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Litigation Futures, 20th February 2020

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Reasonable adjustments – Is it relevant that the employee didn’t mention them? – 3PB

‘The dispute arose from the claimant’s back problems, which, it was agreed, made her disabled within the Equality Act 2010. She was unable to travel far and wanted to work mainly from home. This caused difficulty because her role, auditing the performance of National Health Service bodies, was “client facing” and required her to visit those bodies. She was eventually dismissed for reason of ill-health capability after an occupational health report and negotiations with her union representative. The respondent was concerned that she was not meeting her financial targets, i.e. the required amount of chargeable time billed to the respondent’s clients. These receipts from clients funded her salary. There were not enough clients within the short travelling distance from her home that she could manage.’

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3PB, 7th February 2020

Source: www.3pb.co.uk

Council-owned company defends unfair dismissal claim from ADHD sufferer – Local Government Lawyer

‘A refuse collector has lost his claim for disability discrimination against Bristol Waste, a wholly-owned operation of Bristol City Council.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 20th February 2020

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

‘The victimisation was horrible’: why are so many disabled lawyers treated badly? – The Guardian

‘A new study says that more than half of disabled lawyers have experienced bullying or discrimination at work.’

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The Guardian, 11th February 2020

Source: www.theguardian.com

Disability Discrimination: Long-Term Requirement – Pallant Chambers

Posted February 11th, 2020 in disability discrimination, equality, news by sally

‘Until Tesco Stores Ltd v Tennant UKEAT/0167/19 there was no direct authority on whether it was possible to pursue claims of alleged disability discrimination during the 12-month period starting from the date the impairment met all the other requirements under the legislation.’

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Pallant Chambers, 5th February 2020

Source: www.pallantchambers.co.uk

Firm sacked paralegal days after emergency bowel surgery – Law Society’s Gazette

‘ Birmingham firm who dismissed a worker within days of him leaving hospital post-surgery have been found in breach of employment law by a tribunal.’

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Law Society's Gazette, 6th February 2020

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Law firm discriminated against disabled paralegal – Legal Futures

Posted February 6th, 2020 in disability discrimination, law firms, news, paralegals by sally

‘A law firm discriminated against a seriously ill paralegal by dismissing him after only three months while he was on sick leave, an employment tribunal has ruled’

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Legal Futures, 6th February 202

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Government loses court appeal over short-changing disabled benefit claimants – The Independent

Posted January 30th, 2020 in appeals, benefits, disability discrimination, disabled persons, news by tracey

‘The government has lost two appeals against court judgments that found the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) had unlawfully discriminated against thousands of severely disabled people who were moved on to universal credit.’

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The Independent., 29th January 2020

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Disabled lawyers “face daily discrimination” – Legal Futures

‘Disabled lawyers face both overt and “unconscious” discrimination on a daily basis, such as “rituals, practices and attitudes that exclude or undermine them”, according to research published today.’

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Legal Futures, 24th February 2020

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Remedies in First-tier Tribunal discrimination claims – Local Government Lawyer

‘A recent Upper Tribunal decision has potentially far-reaching implications for schools considering excluding pupils with disabilities, write Tom Amraoui and Rachel Sullivan.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 10th January 2020

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk