Electronic Data Systems Ltd v Travis, Court of Appeal, 26 August 2004

Unfair dismissal at EDS: Travis needed security clearance because of his involvement in top secret work for the Ministry of Defence. He was absent on three separate occasions due to mental illness, and by the time he returned, his security clearance had lapsed. Although fit to return to work, he suffered from a disability. As a result, his security clearance was only partially reinstated, which prevented him from returning to his employer’s defence department.He was given temporary, non-revenue producing work, but was made redundant following a major restructure. The tribunal held that the restructuring amounted to ‘arrangements’ under section six of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, which placed Travis at a disadvantage compared with other staff. By not retraining him or helping him to gain full security clearance, his employer had not taken ‘reasonable steps’ to prevent the disadvantage.