Can individuals be personally sued in reasonable adjustment Tribunal claims? Merriman v 1st Staff Limited & Ors EAT 128 [2026]

The Employment Appeal Tribunal decision in Merriman v 1st Staff Limited & Ors was about an Employment Tribunal case brought by Ms C Merriman against no fewer than 12 respondents, by way of 4 separate claims, first lodged in 2023 and later consolidated. The respondents included various individual managers and staff in their personal capacity who were named by the claimant as individual respondents to her allegations alongside their employers.

Whilst it is not unusual for individuals to be named in Equality Act discrimination cases involving allegations of harassment, this case is noteworthy because it related to alleged failures to make reasonable adjustments, which is far more rare.

What happened?

The claimant was employed by 1st Staff Limited as a tutor and, as such, involved in the provision of support to a child (known as W) with additional needs who lived at a residential school for children with severe learning difficulties and challenging behaviour. Various organisations were involved in the arrangements and the individuals named in the claims were employees or directors of the various limited companies.

The claimant developed health problems, namely osteoarthritis, anxiety and depression, which meant that it was hard for her to attend the premises where W lived. Ultimately, the claimant alleged that she was disabled and that there was a failure to make reasonable adjustments in the course of her employment.

Initially, the tribunal decided that the reasonable adjustment claims against the named individuals could not continue. However, the Employment Appeal Tribunal overturned that decision and confirmed that claims for a failure to make reasonable adjustments can be brought against individual managers, colleagues and agents – not just the employer. The rationale was:

1.  The duty to make reasonable adjustments is imposed on the employer;

2.  However, a company can only act through its employees and agents;

3.  If an employee or agent does something in the course of their employment which amounts to a breach of that duty, the employer will be vicariously liable under s.109 Equality Act 2010;

4.  Where that happens, the individual employee or agent may also be personally liable under s.110 Equality Act 2010.

In other words, while the legal duty sits with the employer, the individuals who are responsible for implementing, or indeed failing to implement, those adjustments cannot necessarily be protected behind the corporate structure.

This is a notable decision for many employers, especially transport and logistics, where it is common for a number of individuals to be involved in the management of drivers or come into contact with them on a daily basis, and where adjustments often must be made at short notice.

It is important to note that, despite the Employment Appeal Tribunal decision on this key preliminary matter, the underlying Employment Tribunal case still needs to go to trial and no final decision has yet been made about whether the claimant’s allegations are well-founded on the evidence in her particular circumstances.

Why does this matter?

In the transport and logistics sector, decisions about reasonable adjustments are often made quickly, and balanced against competing operational demands. These are rarely HR-only decisions. They usually involve transport managers, shift supervisors, agency consultants and depot managers; and can come from more than one organisation.

Accordingly, training of a variety of groups is key, and should include how to identify whether the duty to make reasonable adjustments is likely to bite, application of relevant policies, and best practice including in terms of undertaking an appropriate decision-making process and having sound record-keeping in place to evidence this. 

Assuming they have acted in accordance with relevant policies and training, many employers will support an employee who is named as a respondent in a claim such as this, and indemnify the employee in the event of the claim being successful against them. However, that is not guaranteed and, in any event, would not avoid the significant personal and reputational costs to the individual of not only being involved in a claim, which often takes a heavy toll even when individuals are involved purely as witnesses, but being personally named and potentially liable financially for any award.

How Weightmans can help

If you are managing disability-related adjustments across drivers, warehouse staff or agency workers, our Transport and Logistics specialists have the necessary expertise to help you get ahead of problems. We advise transport and logistics operators daily on reasonable adjustment processes, manager training, and defending tribunal claims against both companies and individuals.

Please get in touch with your Weightmans contact should you wish to discuss this further.