DISABILITY DISCRIMINATION
Disability discrimination law remains a complex area for employers to navigate.
In City of Edinburgh Council v Dickson, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) upheld an employment tribunal decision that an employee was unfairly dismissed for viewing pornography at work during a "hypoglycaemic episode" brought on by diabetes when his behaviour was wholly out of character.
However, the EAT overturned the tribunal decision that the dismissal amounted to disability discrimination. The EAT stated that the tribunal had erred in apparently assuming that, because the employer unreasonably rejected a "disability explanation", this gave rise to direct and disability-related discrimination. The EAT found no evidence that the employer had rejected the explanation because the employee was diabetic.
As well as reporting important appellate decisions, we provide summaries of recent employment tribunal decisions on disability discrimination and dyslexia, which is one of the most common types of disability suffered by claimants.
 Jeya Thiruchelvam
Equal opportunities editor,
XpertHR
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