Disability discrimination: Lack of knowledge defence

Posted by HR Zone in Employment law on Tue, 17/02/2009 - 16:48

DisabilityThe Employment Appeals Tribunal (EAT) has delivered a new judgment setting out what prior knowledge of a disability an employer should have if they are to be held liable for discrimination. Charles Price explains.

Under the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) 1995, the definition of a disability is as follows:

"A person has a disability for the purposes of this act if he has a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term effect on his ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities".

The definition of each element of this has posed many questions to pencil-pushing lawyers. Disability discrimination law in general is incredibly complex and has kept lawyers busy interpreting its machinations for endless hours. For this reason, it is always important to consult a solicitor if you have what you think is a disability case looming.

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Editor's Welcome

 

Hello! And welcome back as we enter 2012, with a busy year ahead of us all. With talk of double-dip recessions, a possible partial or even full break-up of the Eurozone and unemployment rates set to hit nearly 9%, topics such as organisational streamlining, staff resilience and talent management are likely to be on many an HR professional's lips over the next 12 months.
 
But to lighten the gloom here in the UK, we also have the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and its attendant public holidays to look forward to at the start of June. Followed by two weeks of Olympic Games from 27 July to 12 August and the Paralympics from 29 August to 9 September, each generating their own excitement, but also issues to work through for hard-pressed HR departments trying to sort out the multifarious staffing issues in advance.
 
So with an interesting but challenging year to come, HRZone promises to be with you, supporting you all the way and providing our usual insightful blend of news, analysis, community blogs and expert comment to help you sort the wheat from the chaff. As ever, we love to hear from you too so feel free to either post your words of wisdom to our blog section yourself or, in the case of longer, more in-depth ‘expert voice’ articles, drop me a line with any ideas to cath.everett@siftmedia.co.uk.....
 
Cath Everett
HRZone Editor 
 
 
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