Recent legal developments

The key question for consideration by the Employment Appeal Tribunal in the recent case of Child Support Agency v. Truman was whether the appropriate comparator in disability-related discrimination employment cases, previously identified in Clark v. Novacold, should be replaced by the much narrower definition of a comparator given in Lewisham London Borough Council v. Malcolm in 2008, even though that case was heard in the context of housing law. In the event, the EAT considered that this was the correct approach and allowed the appeal, ensuring that in future, when deciding whether the claimant has suffered discrimination for a reason related to his or her disability, his or her treatment would be compared with that of a non-disabled person who is in the same situation as the claimant. Although a more logical definition, it is considerably narrower, and is likely to amount to an additional hurdle for those claiming disability-related discrimination.