Alleged Disability Discrimination at interview - multiple claims
Barry Jameson recently acted for a well known public gallery who were recruiting in their Finance Department. An applicant answered the advertisement and completed the necessary pre interview application form and indicated that he suffered from obsessive compulsive disorder.
The interview took place but the applicant was unsuccessful. His skills and experience did not sufficiently fit the requirements of the position.
The Claimant brought an Employment Tribunal claim against the gallery (having served a pre claim questionnaire) alleging disability discrimination on account of his OCD. As the case progressed it was discovered that he had brought ten other similar claims against bodies in the public sector in recent months. While, on the face of it, the claim had nuisance value (because of the costs involved in resisting it), the gallery, on advice, considered they were in a strong position and refused to accept that the Claimant had a disability within the Act.
A preliminary hearing was fixed to deal with the issue of whether the OCD did qualify. The Claimant withdrew his claim the night before the hearing having produced no medical evidence in support of his allegation. He conducted his own claim and it would have been easy to have sought to settle the case on commercial grounds.
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