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Newspage RawSource: Kate Underwood, Kate Underwood HR & Training

Could your managers be personally sued for missing a reasonable adjustment? EAT says yes

ended 23. September 2026

A tutor with disabilities asked to run her sessions online instead of face-to-face. When it went wrong, her tribunal claim named not just the agency that employed her, but four individual staff by name. The first tribunal struck all four out, ruling reasonable adjustments claims can only ever be brought against the employer, never the individual. The EAT has just reversed that. Individuals can be personally liable too, and the case against all four is back on. Full judgment: https://www.gov.uk/employment-appeal-tribunal-decisions/ms-c-merriman-v-1-1st-staff-ltd-and-others-2026-eat-128

Claire Merriman tutored a child with special needs through agency 1st Staff Ltd. She developed disabilities and asked to teach online rather than in person. When that request went wrong, she brought an Equality Act claim against the agency and four of its staff, Robert Dawkins, Yaron Woolf, Emma Davies and Coren Murley, personally. The original tribunal struck the four individuals out. The EAT said that was wrong in law: when an employee's own act breaches the employer's duty to make adjustments, sections 109 and 110 of the Equality Act put that individual on the hook too, not just the business.

For small businesses this changes who picks up the phone when a reasonable adjustment gets missed. It's not just the company's problem any more, it's personally the problem of whoever handled the request and got it wrong. If you manage people, "I was just following what the business does" isn't a shield.

  • Did you know individual managers, not just the business, could be personally named and liable in a reasonable adjustments claim?
  • Do your managers know enough about the Equality Act to spot a reasonable adjustment request when one lands on their desk?
  • Should personal liability like this make managers more cautious, or just better trained?
  • Would this change how you'd handle a flexible working or adjustment request that came in tomorrow?

3 responses from the Newspage community

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Kate UnderwoodVerified
Founder & Chief People Strategist at Kate Underwood HR & Training
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This one should make every manager sit up, not just the business owner. If you're the person on the ground turning down or fumbling a reasonable adjustment, you can now be named on the claim form yourself. That's not scaremongering, that's the law as it now stands. The fix isn't complicated, train your managers properly on what a reasonable adjustment actually is, document every request and every decision, and never let one person wing it based on gut feel. And get occupational health involved early, every time. I bang on about this constantly because it works, a proper OH referral takes the guesswork out of what's reasonable and gives your manager something solid to act on instead of a personal opinion. Protect your people and you protect yourself.
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Tony SanchezVerified
Founder at Bridging Loan Directory
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As a small business owner, I think the answer is better training and access to advice. Fear of personal liability could make managers defensive when what an employee needs is a constructive conversation.

Small firms often have people handling staffing issues alongside their main job, without a dedicated HR team. They need to recognise when someone is asking for help with a disability, understand when to seek advice and avoid dismissing a request with “we don’t normally do that”.

If a request came to me, I would want to understand the difficulty, discuss what might help and get advice where I was unsure. Keeping a clear record of what was considered and following up would matter too.

Employers should take responsibility for equipping managers to handle these conversations. Handing someone a policy and leaving them to work it out is not enough.
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Kelly SmallcombeVerified
Fractional Chief People Officer at Meliorem HR Consultancy
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Most employers forget individuals can be personally liable in these claims, and most employees have no idea they can be named either. This case should change that. If a manager mishandles an adjustment request, it's not automatically the company's problem to absorb, it can follow them personally. Part of what's driving this is practical, small employers often go into liquidation after judgment, so claimants are naming individuals to make sure there's someone left to actually pay out. That should worry managers more than the legal technicality does. The real question for employers is training. Does your team know a reasonable adjustment request when it lands on their desk, or are they assuming the business will absorb it if they get it wrong? Equip managers properly now, don't wait for a tribunal to teach them the gap existed