Disability discrimination case settled with PSNI and jobs firm

A man with autism, ADHD and Tourette's syndrome has settled a disability discrimination case against the police and a recruitment firm for £12,500.

The man had unsuccessfully applied for an administrative post with the PSNI via a recruitment campaign conducted by Honeycomb Jobs Ltd.

The Equality Commission said effective reasonable adjustments were not made during a group interview.

Honeycomb and the PSNI each paid £6,250 without admission of liability.

The man was supported in taking his case by the Equality Commission.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said it would continue to liaise with the commission "and our external recruitment agencies to ensure that our recruitment procedures and assessment methodologies are fair and accessible to all".

Honeycomb said that "despite ongoing engagement", it recognised that reasonable adjustments for the man at his interview "did not go far enough in the circumstances".

"We are therefore pleased that the parties were able to resolve this matter through conciliation and we offer the applicant our best wishes for the future," it said.

'Taken its toll'

The commission said the man, who has asked not to be publicly identified, had disclosed that he had autism on his application form, but no one followed up on this until he had successfully completed two parts of the three-stage recruitment process.

Phone calls were made to Honeycomb to let it know he would have severe difficulties effectively communicating during the group interview.

"While the man was given extra time to read the pre-briefing (which he did not need) and an extra 10 minutes and a word processor to write up what was discussed, he did not believe that effective reasonable adjustments were made at the group interview itself, which meant that due to his disability he was not able to actively participate," the commission said, in a statement.

"He completed the written report and scored well in all areas of the overall selection process with the exception of the group interview."

The man said he had worked hard to overcome his educational difficulties and the experience had "taken its toll", affecting his condition and self-confidence.

"It is important that employers listen and take steps to ensure that people with disabilities are given appropriate support to allow them to compete fairly with others without a disability and ultimately the possibility of achieving a good job," he said.

Mary Kitson, senior legal officer at the Equality Commission, welcomed the PSNI and Honeycomb Jobs Ltd's agreement to review their recruitment practices.