The Claimant brought a claim of discrimination arising from disability following his dismissal in the recent case of Risby v London Borough of Waltham Forest. The employee was a wheelchair user. His employer changed the venue for a course to one which was inaccessible to him as a wheelchair user. The employee lost his temper. He had a tendency to be short tempered but this was a personality trait unrelated to his disability. He was dismissed for misconduct. The Claimant then brought a claim in the Tribunal. The Tribunal found that the misconduct was unrelated to the employee’s disability and his claim therefore failed under this limb.

The Claimant appealed and the EAT held that there only needs to be a loose causal link between an employee’s conduct and their disability for a discrimination arising from disability claim to be made out. The EAT reasoned that the situation only arose because the employee was disabled and it was therefore incorrect for the tribunal to find that the misconduct was unrelated to the employee’s disability. The case was remitted back to the tribunal for rehearing.