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Dyslexic police officer wins
landmark disability discrimination appeal
A dyslexic police officer, advised by Russell Jones & Walker and with the full support of the Police Federation throughout, has today won a landmark Employment Appeal Tribunal victory in his case against the Metropolitan Police for disability discrimination, after being significantly disadvantaged compared with his peers when sitting exams for promotion. As with so many claims for disability discrimination, Mr Paterson's case had faltered at the previous stage (Employment Tribunal), because the legislation sets a complicated test to qualify for protection: he needed to show that the condition, in this case his dyslexia, had a 'substantial adverse effect on his day-to-day activity' and the original Tribunal refused to accept that taking an exam qualifies as a day-to-day activity. However, in a landmark ruling, Patrick Elias, president of the Employment Appeal Tribunal, upheld Mr Paterson's appeal, saying that to exclude exams from the definition of day-to-day activity, and thus the test as to whether disability discrimination had occurred, would be to 'wholly undermine the protection afforded by the legislation'. He ruled that anything that acts as a hindrance in furthering the development of an individual's professional career must be relevant to the consideration of whether the condition impairs day-to-day activity. Mohini Bharania, Mr Paterson's solicitor in the award-winning Employment Law team at Russell Jones & Walker, said: "This is a landmark judgment which has the potential to benefit the millions of dyslexia sufferers in the UK who are perfectly capable employees, but who may struggle with exams. This judgment paves the way to allowing thousands to achieve their full potential." Mr Paterson said: "I welcome this decision. It's good to know that other people who suffer from dyslexia and have experienced difficulties with professional exams will benefit from this ruling. Now that my disability has been established, I hope that my case succeeds at the Employment Tribunal hearing." George Appleby, General Secretary of the Police Federation's Inspectors' Central Committee, described the decision as: "A victory for common sense on a matter we were determined to support until fairness prevailed. It should not have needed the expertise of our solicitors to correct such an injustice."
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