Disability Discrimination: Employer's Knowledge Of Disability

THE FACTS

Employers will not be liable for discrimination arising from a disability if they do not know the employee has a disability. Employers may be considered to have constructive knowledge of a disability if they could reasonably have been expected to know about the disability. Employers are expected to do all they reasonably can to find out if a worker has a disability.

Z, an employee of A Ltd, suffered from stress, depression, low mood and schizophrenia. These conditions were mental impairments and classed as disabilities protected by the Equality Act 2010. Z did not disclose her conditions to A Ltd. On several occasions, including at the outset of her employment when she completed a form about her health, which specifically asked about mental impairments, and in relation to a period during which she was hospitalised for psychiatric care, she did not mention any mental health conditions, but referred to various physical ailments.