Kids hardly ever bare even half a heel, dressing safely in Crocs or some other rubbery affront to footwear. So it's left
BAREFOOT BEACH BOILS What little bonus might you pick up from the sand?
HEARING TEST HEARING Perceived disability spells trouble in Tribunal
ANOTHER TURN FOR OUR INTERN Chris returns to Employment for his final seat!
Your weekly bulletin of wit & wonder in the world of…
Wg Employment Issue 586/February 2018 Keep your socks on. With just two weeks to Valentine's Day, I spotted the romantic walk horror story to end them all on Yahoo! this week. A couple from Canada have been turning the stomachs of Facebook friends with photos of their horribly disfigured feet after a romantic walk on the beach which ended in a parasitic attack worthy of Ridley Scott. Katie Stephens, 22, and Eddie Zytner, 25, contracted larva migrans in their soles after a loved up barefoot walk across a beach in the Dominican Republic. A bit of an itch later led to blisters and painful wails - proving to be an infestation from a type of hookworm larvae which had burrowed into their skin. couple are nowunlikely slowly for recovering their skin. The couple are now slowly recovering with medical help. Footsie underThe the table is probably a while. with medical help. Footsie under the table is probably unlikely for a while. Here in England the threats to feet are less exotic... A bit of glass on Weston Shore, a discarded rusty tinfoil barbecue at Lepe, a Lego brick on the carpet. Back in my childhood kids used to run around barefoot quite a lot, and stepping on a bee or a broken bottle was a rite of passage. Not these days. Kids hardly ever bare even half a heel, dressing safely in Crocs or some other rubbery affront to footwear. So it's left to young lovers to do the barefoot walking. You can see them wincing along Southsea beach, shoes in hand, determined to be romantic. It's heart warming. There should be more Valentine cards about it... The Dominican Republic version:
The UK version:
Roses are red Violets are blue Our feet are infested with hookworm Let's get some ointment
Rose's are red Violets are blue My feet are bleeding How about you..?
Perception is everything Speaking of misguided ideas brings me seamlessly to the case of Chief Constable of Norfolk v Coffey. Mrs Coffey was a police constable in Wiltshire Constabulary, who was refused a transfer to Norfolk Constabulary. She had some hearing loss placing her marginally outside the national standard for recruitment. However, following national guidance, the Wiltshire Constabulary arranged a practical functionality test for Mrs Coffey, which she passed, enabling her to work as a constable (without adjustments). Mrs Coffey subsequently applied to transfer to the Norfolk Constabulary. She underwent a hearing test which recorded that she had the same level of hearing loss as previously identified by Wiltshire Constabulary. The Acting Chief Inspector (ACI) for Norfolk nevertheless rejected Mrs Coffey's application on the basis that her hearing was below the acceptable standard, and, despite medical advice, did not arrange a practical functionality test. Mrs Coffey brought a claim to the Employment Tribunal alleging that the ACI perceived her as having a disability and that the decision to reject her application was direct disability discrimination. Mrs Coffey did not allege that she actually had a disability; her case was that her hearing loss did not have, and was not likely to have, a substantial adverse effect on her ability to carry out day-to-day activities, including working activities.
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did not have, and was not likely to have, a substantial adverse effect on her ability to carry out day-today activities, including working activities. The ACI refuted the claims, explaining that she did not consider that Mrs Coffey was disabled under The Equality Act 2010. Instead she had rejected Mrs Coffey on the basis that the police force operates under significant cost and resourcing pressures, and she could not justify appointing someone who fell outside the national standards and therefore might not be fully operational. Since this perception was the reason for refusing the transfer, the Tribunal upheld the claims. It found that the ACI perceived that Mrs Coffey had an actual or a potential disability which could lead to the Norfolk Constabulary having to make adjustments to her role, either now or in the future.
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The Tribunal concluded that this amounted to direct discrimination. Norfolk Constabulary appealed to the EAT arguing that the Tribunal had been wrong in its finding that the ACI perceived Mrs Coffey to be disabled, and that she had been treated less favourably because of that perception. The EAT dismissed the appeal and found the Tribunal’s reasoning to be sufficient; Norfolk Constabulary viewed Mrs Coffey as having a potential disability. In other words, even if the impairment was not perceived as currently having a substantial adverse effect, the perception was that it could well have a substantial effect in future. This is the first case to directly address perceived disability discrimination under The Equality Act 2010. Though the EAT left the issue open, claims for perceived disability are not likely to apply to reasonable adjustment claims or discrimination arising from disability. The decision sets the benchmark as to whether the claimant was perceived as having the characteristics set out in the legal definition of disability.
Chris is back! We like to keep tabs on our young talent - and it's great to have Chris Greep back in with us! Chris joined us as an intern back in 2013, assisting the Employment Team while taking a year out from his law degree at the University of Surrey. He returned to complete his degree before returning to the firm as a Paralegal in August 2015. Since then he's completed his Legal Practice course at the University of Law in Guildford and come back to us after completing seats in our Commercial Property and Commercial Litigation teams as part of his Period of Recognised Training… but he couldn’t keep away and he’s landed back in Employment to work within the Litigation team. When we let him out, Chris can be found participating in or following football, cricket and golf - or taking part in challenges like Tough Mudder, climbing Scaffell Pike and Snowdon. He doesn't walk barefoot on beaches though. Not any more...
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