A special needs assistant who is paraplegic following a road accident has urged the Supreme Court to overturn a decision that she cannot resume work at a special needs school.
She urged the court to adopt a “social”, not a “medical”, model of disability and to see the workplace as somewhere to be adapted to the human person, not the other way around.Having heard submissions from all sides, the court reserved judgment. It also provides for employers to make reasonable accommodation to enable disabled persons access employment unless that would impose a “disproportionate” burden on the employer.
The Labour Court later awarded her €40,000 compensation after finding the school construed its duty under section 16 too narrowly and was obliged to fully consider the redistribution of tasks among all the SNAs to relieve Ms Daly of those duties she was unable to perform. The Court of Appeal later ruled the Labour Court’s construction of section 16 was not correct and held section 16 did not require an employer to retain an individual who could not perform the essential functions of a position.