Oliver Lawrence successful in EAT: trial periods can be reasonable adjustments

Employment and discrimination barrister, Oliver Lawrence, successfully acted for the Respondent in the case of Rentokil Initial UK v Mr M Miller, a case which looks at reasonable adjustments within the workplace. The judgment is now available.

The EAT has established that a trial period can be a reasonable adjustment in Miller v Rentokil, a case in which an employer dismissed a disabled employee instead of placing him in an alternative role on a trial basis. The proposition had previously been doubted by the EAT in Environment Agency v Rowan .

The Claimant worked as a field-based pest controller. After being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis he could no longer work in this role, mainly because of his consequent difficulties working at heights and at pace.  

The Respondent pointed the Claimant towards other jobs in the business and the Claimant applied for an administrator role. He was dismissed after an unsuccessful interview process. The Claimant claimed that failing to place him in the administrator role on a trial basis amounted to a failure to make reasonable adjustments under Equality Act 2010. The tribunal upheld his claim.

On appeal, the EAT agreed with the tribunal. The Claimant was placed at a substantial disadvantage because of his disability – he could no longer carry out his duties in his field-based role and was therefore at risk of dismissal. Moving the Claimant to an alternative role was potentially a reasonable adjustment which had a real prospect of avoiding that disadvantage. The Claimant had shown that the alternative role was potentially appropriate and suitable. The burden then passed to the Respondent to show that it was not reasonable to have put the employee into that role, or to have done so at least on a trial basis. 

The judgment stands as a reminder that where a disabled employee can no longer perform his or her substantive role, redeployment is an option that employers must consider very carefully, even if only on a trial basis.

To view the judgment, click here.

Find out more

Oliver has an expansive tribunal and appellate employment practice. He has appeared in the Court of Appeal and regularly appears unled in the High Court, the Employment Appeal Tribunal and the Employment Tribunal, often against far more senior counsel. His clients range from household names to senior executives in cases across commercial employment, statutory employment and discrimination law.

Oliver has a growing commercial employment practice in the High Court, acting unled in numerous restrictive covenant cases since 2022, when he appeared in the Court of Appeal in the landmark case of Planon v Gilligan. He is regularly instructed to lead such litigation from the outset.

Since 2023, Oliver’s practice has extended to international cases that fall under the jurisdiction of international administrative law involving disputes between international organisations and their senior executives, recently appearing before a judge of the World Bank Administrative Tribunal.

To find out more about Oliver, contact Nick Levett +44 (0)20 7427 4908 for a confidential discussion.

News 18 Mar, 2024