Cases - Archibald v Fife Council
Record details
- Name
- Archibald v Fife Council
- Date
- [2002]; [2003]; [2004]; [2004]
- Citation
- UKEAT 0025_02_1212; ScotCS 308; UKHL 32; 4 All ER 303
- Legislation
- Keywords
- Reasonable adjustments - Disability Discrimination Act 1995 - employment law - Scotland - duty to make adjustments
- Summary
-
This case concerned the employer's duty to make reasonable adjustments under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995.
Ms Archibald had been employed as a road sweeper by Fife Council. During her employment, though not related to it, she had become disabled as defined under the 1995 Act and could no longer do her job. Fife Council had argued that the section 6 duty to make reasonable adjustments under the 1995 Act had not been triggered in Ms Archibald's case and certainly did not extend to offering her an alternative position within the council. As a result, after attending over 100 interviews for clerical positions with the council Ms Archibald was dismissed on grounds of capacity at which point she made her disability discrimination claim.
Both the EAT and Scottish court of session had found in favour of Fife Council holding that the section 6 duty had not been triggered in this case.
The House of Lords, however, found in favour of Ms Archibald and overturned the decisions of the lower courts, all five law lords finding in her favour.
The House of Lords judgment eloquently and concisely sets out exactly how and where the duty to make reasonable adjustments operates.
The judgment is good law for both employers and employees as it clearly sets out the requirements for the reasonable adjustment duty which must be good news for employment relations in general.