Redployment even if not pleaded?

In Bugden v Royal Mail Group, the Claimant was dismissed following a series of ill health-related absences. He brought claims of unfair dismissal and disability discrimination, including failure to make reasonable adjustments. His claims failed before the Employment tribunal.The Claimant appealed on two grounds:

1. The tribunal should have considered if moving to another role could have been a reasonable adjustment for the Respondent to make. They heard evidence that one of the Claimant’s impairments was made worse by his shift manager's behaviour.

2. 
   

3. That the possibility of moving to another role, and the Respondent's failure to consider it, affected the fairness of the dismissal. The tribunal should have considered it.

The Claimant had not raised these points, either in the pleadings or at the hearing.The EAT dismissed the Claimant’s appeal in relation to reasonable adjustments. The particular adjustment was not sufficiently clear from the material before the tribunal. The tribunal had not erred in law in failing to raise that potential adjustment with the parties itself.The EAT allowed the Claimant’s appeal on unfair dismissal. Whether there had been consideration of redeployment to an alternative role was a necessary question in dismissals arising from ill-health absence. It should have been addressed by the tribunal even if the parties hadn't rasied it. It was relevant to whether dismissing the Claimant was within the range of reasonable responses of a reasonable employer.The claim of unfair dismissal was remitted for further consideration

Thanks to Daniel Barnett.