Catherine Gilbert, a former policewoman who suffers from a voice condition that means that she can only whisper, is bringing a disability discrimination claim against Kent Police for not making reasonable adjustments to help her complete dog handler training.
Ms Gilbert, who suffers from "spasmodic dysphonia", is claiming that Kent Police did not make sufficient reasonable adjustments to help her with the condition, particularly in relation to its failure to offer her counselling. She says that her condition meant that she could not complete her dog handling training, was unable to communicate with colleagues, and had difficulty using the telephone properly.
Look out for XpertHR's forthcoming round up of employment tribunal decisions on disability discrimination in the police force, to be published on our new police version. Feedback from police forces we have talked to suggests that they often face disability discrimination claims and are keen to hear about employment tribunal decisions in this area.
Read more about the case on the Daily Telegraph website.


Comments (1)
On the inforamtion given, this would seem to be a completely unreasonable claim - how can a person control a dog if they can only whisper or speak quietly? How do they command the dog when it is sent to bite a suspect? Ludicrous. The World has gone mad, and I sympathise with Kent Police.
Posted by KMW | March 26, 2010 7:06 PM
Posted on March 26, 2010 19:06