If your employer won’t correct a sick note that blames your disability, that matters.
“Direct disability discrimination succeeded on three separate matters.”
Occupational healthAn independent medical service that employers use to assess how a health condition is affecting your ability to work. A referral to occupational health is not a step toward dismissal, but the report p... referrals or return-to-work documents that link your performance or sickness absence to your disability, even without naming it, can amount to unlawful disability discrimination.
- Keep copies of any occupational health referral questions and return-to-work forms relating to your absence.
- If a grievance about incorrect paperwork is upheld, check whether the document is actually corrected, not just acknowledged as wrong.
- Get advice if you think a document's wording, not just an obvious comment, may be discriminatory. These claims can succeed even without an explicit reference to your disability.
Occupational health letter generator
Generate a formal letter about your occupational health assessment. Five letter types cover common situations, with the first one free.
Open tool →The situation
A complaints manager with a long-term health condition went through occupational health referrals during a period of sickness absence. One referral asked whether her role, or parts of it, were "triggering" for her. Another described her as having performance deterioration and being incapable of her current role. A return-to-work form also blamed a period of her sick leave on her disability. She raised a grievanceA formal complaint raised by an employee against their employer, triggering a legal obligation to investigate and respond. about the form, which her employer upheld internally, but her employer never corrected it.
What the tribunal found
The tribunal found all three matters were direct disability discrimination under section 13 of the Equality Act 2010, starting with the "triggering" question in the first referral. The second referral's performance and incapability framing was discriminatory too. So was the refusal to correct the return-to-work form, despite the upheld grievance. In each case, the tribunal concluded that her disability had significantly influenced how the referral or the form was worded, even though the language used did not mention disability directly. Other complaints, including her original dismissal, were not upheld, and her unfair dismissalA legal claim you can bring if your employer dismissed you without a fair reason or without following a fair process. You normally need two years of continuous employment to qualify, though some dismi... and sex discrimination claims were withdrawn before judgment.
Spinks v Priory Central Services Ltd. Case 3303088/2024. Watford Employment Tribunal. June 2026.