UK: Discrimination arising from disability: advantageous treatment is not unfavourable, even though it could have been more advantageous

Mr Williams (W) had a disability and, to help him cope with his condition, the University agreed to reduce his hours by half as a reasonable adjustment. His pay was reduced accordingly. After his condition deteriorated further, he took ill-health retirement. He was entitled to an enhanced pension that was based on his final salary at the time of his retirement.

The Supreme Court ruled that W had not been unfavourably treated because of something arising in consequence of his disability when his ill-health early retirement pension was calculated on the basis of his part-time salary, rather than his full-time salary.

The Court said there are two questions of fact to consider:

• What was the relevant treatment?
• Was that treatment unfavourable to the individual?

Here, the relevant treatment was the award of an enhanced pension, and that did not amount to unfavourable treatment.

Comment:
The Court noted that in most cases, advantageous treatment cannot be unfavourable – even though it could be more advantageous.

When considering whether the treatment was unfavourable, the Court did not decide whether the correct test is objective, or a mix of subjective and objective – but said that the threshold for establishing whether the treatment is unfavourable to the individual is relatively low.

Williams v Trustees of Swansea University Pension and Assurance Scheme
http://www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKSC/2018/65.html