‘ local authority’s policy of taking into account the care component of disability living allowance when assessing the amount of a discretionary house payment (DHPs) was unlawful, a High Court judge has ruled.’
Local Government Lawyer, 31st March 2015
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘Oh, we have been waiting for this one. According to DWP survey evidence, some 75% of Councils take Disability Living Allowance into account as income when deciding on an award of Discretionary Housing Payments. This judicial review concerned Sandwell Council’s policy of doing just that. The implications are clearly of significance for other councils, and will potentially impact many disabled people faced with the bedroom tax.’
Nearly Legal, 30th March 2015
Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk
‘When the Court of Appeal held that a disability discrimination defence to possession under Equality Act 2010 had to face the same ‘seriously arguable’ summary test as an Article 8 defence, we were surprised, and very unimpressed. It seems the Supreme Court felt similarly (and unanimously), although sadly it did not help the tenant in this case.’
Nearly Legal, 29th March 2015
Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk
‘The approach to be taken to a defence to a claim for possession of residential premises which alleged unlawful discrimination against a disabled person, contrary to the Equality Act 2010, was different from that which applied to a defence which alleged a breach of an individual’s rights under article 8 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. In particular, summary judgment would not normally be an appropriate procedure for dealing with a possession claim where a disability discrimination defence was raised.’
WLR Daily, 11th March 2015
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
‘The Supreme Court, in the case of Akerman-Livingstone v Aster Communities Ltd [2015] UKSC 15, have provided some much needed and helpful clarification of the practicalities of raising and potentially defeating a defence based on discrimination on a summary basis. In the event, events overtook the appeal, and Mr Akerman-Livingstone’s appeal was dismissed, but had it not been for a suitable offer of accommodation and the superior landlord serving notice to quit on the Housing Association and requiring vacant possession from them, the result would have been different.’
Full story (PDF)
Zenith Chambers, 12th March 2015
Source: www.zenithchambers.co.uk
‘The Supreme Court handed down its decision yesterday in Akerman-Livingstone v. Aster Communities Ltd (formerly Flourish Homes Ltd) [2015] UKSC 15 in which it considered the test of justification for discrimination under section 15 of the Equality Act 2010 (the EqA) as compared with justification for Article 8 of the Convention.’
Cloisters, 12th March 2015
Source: www.cloisters.com
‘A judge hearing an eviction case misdirected himself in adopting the same approach to the defence of disability discrimination as to an alleged breach of Article 8 of the European Court of Human Rights, the Supreme Court has ruled.’
Local Government Lawyer, 11th March 2015
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘A three-judge Upper Tribunal panel X v GB of a school has considered the exclusion of a tendency to physical abuse from the definition of disability under the Equality Act 2010.’
Education Law Blog, 25th January 2015
Source: www.education11kbw.com
‘Three men who contracted hepatitis C from contaminated imported blood have begun a legal case in the UK to challenge the compensation scheme.’
BBC News, 15th January 2015
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘A legal case to be heard at the supreme court will decide whether the government’s housing benefit regulations – the bedroom tax – discriminates unfairly against disabled adults. The ruling could have consequences for hundreds of thousands of people.’
The Guardian, 10th January 2015
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
‘Bus companies are not required by law to force parents with buggies to make way for wheelchair users in designated bays on vehicles, senior judges ruled.’
Full story
BBC News, 8th December 2014
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘Was there gross misconduct? If there was, did it justify dismissal? Those were issues before Judge Eady QC in Burdett v Aviva Employment Services Ltd, UKEAT/0439/13/JOJ, a case concerned with both unfair dismissal and discrimination arising from disability. The employee had committed assaults in the workplace. However, this was because of his disability. He suffered from a paranoid schizophrenic illness. The ET was judged to have been in error in finding gross misconduct. They had failed to engage with the question of blameworthiness. The ET was also found to have been in error in assuming that dismissal will necessarily fall within the range of reasonable responses in a gross misconduct case.’
Employment Law Blog, 20th November 2014
Source: www.employment11kbw.com
‘An employment tribunal which decided to carry out its own internet research, apparently to help a litigant in person, has been condemned by Mr Justice Langstaff, president of the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT).’
Litigation Futures, 20th November 2014
Source: www.litigationfutures.com
‘Once employment protection was focused upon conventional patterns of work – open-ended, regular full-time jobs with a single employer. Our norms have now moved on. Recent developments reflect this. It has never been more important to pinpoint the underlying prerequisites for the existence of a contract of employment.’
Cloisters, 20th November 2014
Source: www.cloisters.com
‘A woman’s refusal to move a pushchair with a sleeping baby from a bay on a bus used by wheelchair passengers – causing a disabled man to have to leave the vehicle – is at the centre of a test-case legal battle in the court of appeal.’
The Guardian, 11th November 2014
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
‘Following my plaintive cry here, I now have copies of the two Upper Tribunal judgments from Scotland referred to by the DWP. And, while the judgments do do something rather more and rather different to the outcomes suggested in the DWP Circular, sadly, what they actually do is worse.’
NearlyLegal, 6th October 2014
Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk
‘The Court of Appeal has dismissed a solicitor’s call for an Employment Tribunal ruling – in which his claim against a local authority for race and disability discrimination was rejected – to be thrown out as not properly made, it has emerged.’
Local Government Lawyer, 30th September 2014
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘Harini Iyengar comments on the latest Court of Appeal case on the calculation of damages for a lost career.’
Employment Law Blog, 25th September 2014
Source: www.employment11kbw.com
‘The former director of public prosecutions has said attacks on disabled people are not being recognised as hate crime, letting criminals off with lighter sentences.’
The Independent, 21st September 2014
Source: www.independent.co.uk
‘In Kanu v Southwark LBC [2014] EWCA Civ 1085, the Court of Appeal considered whether the public sector equality duty added an additional obligation on housing officers when they came to consider whether an applicant had a priority need. As you will all know the public sector equality is an obligation placed on public authorities by s.149, Equality Act 2010 to have due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation; advance equality of opportunity between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it; and foster good relations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it. Broken down, when someone is disabled, the duty further requires an authority to have due regard to the need to take steps to take account of a person’s disability.’
NearlyLegal, 7th September 2014
Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk
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