By Kieron JH | The Reasonable Adjustment | July 2025
Disability discrimination in UK workplaces has officially entered a new phase — and for once, it’s the law that’s doing the heavy lifting.
According to new data, disability discrimination claims are surging by over 40%, with mental health and neurodivergence right at the centre of the storm. From ADHD-related tribunal rulings to autism referrals being flagged in safeguarding cases, one thing is clear: the legal bar for proving discrimination is dropping, and employers need to evolve — fast.
📈 According to The Times, disability discrimination cases rose by 43% in the past year, with mental health conditions like anxiety, depression, and menopause now driving much of the increase.
🔥 What’s Happening?
Recent high-profile rulings show a pattern: the courts are increasingly siding with employees when employers fail to provide reasonable adjustments, or when they dismiss conditions like ADHD, anxiety, or autism as mere “preferences” or “performance issues.”
Case in point:
In June 2025, Capgemini was found to have discriminated against employee Bahar Khorram by ignoring Occupational Health recommendations to run ADHD awareness training. A tribunal ruled that this lack of follow-through amounted to indirect discrimination, even without malicious intent.
⚖️ As reported by The Times, Capgemini’s failure to act on expert advice led to a legally recognised breach of duty — showing that inaction can now be enough to land an employer in hot water.
In other words: intent is no longer the shield it once was. Negligence, passivity, or wilful ignorance can tip the legal scale.
🤯 The Realities Neurodivergent and Mentally Ill Workers Face
Let’s be honest: most discrimination is quiet. It’s the email you never get. The promotion that goes to someone “easier.” The support plan that stays in the drawer.
It’s in the interviews where you mask your autism and swallow your anxiety, because you know being honest might get you “deemed unsuitable for the pace of the role.”
It’s in the constant second-guessing: Did I over-explain? Was that too blunt? Am I burning out or just lazy?
The law is finally beginning to recognise that this isn’t just about individual resilience — it’s systemic exclusion.
📉 Lower Thresholds, Higher Accountability
The Equality Act 2010 already places a duty on employers to make reasonable adjustments — but until recently, enforcement has been patchy at best.
What we’re now seeing is a shift:
- Tribunals are listening to lived experience.
- Workplace culture is being scrutinised, not just one-off incidents.
- Medical evidence is being given proper weight, even in cases of “invisible” disabilities.
What used to be brushed off as a “bad personality fit” is now potential constructive dismissal.
💡 Employers: Adapt or Be Named in a Tribunal
If you’re an employer, here’s what you should be doing yesterday:
- Stop treating neurodivergence and mental health like PR issues. They’re legal responsibilities.
- Update your policies — but more importantly, train your people. An equality policy means nothing if line managers don’t understand executive dysfunction.
- Listen and act when Occupational Health makes recommendations. Ignoring them is now a legal liability.
- Drop the cookie-cutter solutions. What counts as a “reasonable adjustment” varies by person, and pretending otherwise is lazy and dangerous.
🧠 This Is Bigger Than HR
We’re in a moment where the silence is breaking. NDAs are being challenged. Whistleblowers are louder. And courts are no longer tolerating “I didn’t know” as a defence.
The future of work — if it wants to be inclusive, ethical, and legally defensible — will have to be built with neurodivergence and mental health at its centre, not tacked on after someone sues.
If you’re a worker who’s been told you’re too intense, too much, too “different,” just know: the threshold is dropping because your voice is rising.
And the law is starting to listen.
🗣 Want to tell your story?
We’re looking for real experiences from people navigating work, discrimination, and adjustment battles. Get in touch or submit anonymously through The Reasonable Adjustment contact page.
Be First to Comment