[2010] IRLR 19

Background

The Plaintiff was an employee of the Defendant NSPCC who suffered from a heart condition and had for many years been fitted with a pacemaker. She resigned and initiated a proceeding with the Employment Tribunal, claiming that the Defendant failed to make reasonable adjustments for her disability as required under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and that her resignation was as a result of the treatment that she received. The Employment Tribunal awarded to the Plaintiff £12,000, in the middle Vento band. The Defendant appealed on the basis that the award of compensation was too high, and argued that it should have been between £6,000 and £8,000, at the low end of the middle Vento band.

Court’s decision

The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) upheld the Employment Tribunal’s award, finding that the Employment Tribunal was entitled on the facts of this case to place the award within the middle Vento band the injury in this case. The EAT also noted that appeals on the basis of inadequate or excessive compensation were more likely to succeed in cases where the wrong band were chosen, which are more likely to raise questions of law. Disputes about the placement of an award within a particular band, on the other hand, are more likely to be about fact and impression, which is for the Employment Tribunal to decide.

The EAT updated the Vento ranges in line with the rise in the UK Retail Prices Index which measures inflation:

1. Top band: between £18,000 and £30,000
2. Middle band: between £6,000 and £18,000
3. Lowest band: between £500 and £6,000