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10 July 2009
Issue: 7377 / Categories: Features , Discrimination , Employment
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Beating the clock

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Spencer Keen looks at time limits in reasonable adjustments cases under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995

In Matuszowicz v Kingston Upon Hull City Council [2009] All ER (D) 291 (Jan) the Court of Appeal handed down a judgment that will have a significant impact on when time starts to run in reasonable adjustments cases. 

In Matuszowicz the Court of Appeal considered how time limits in reasonable adjustments cases are affected by the provisions of para 3 of Sch 3 of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA 1995). This section provides that a deliberate omission is deemed to occur  when it is decided upon.

Significantly, a person is taken to have decided upon that omission either (i) when he does an act inconsistent with the doing of the omitted act or (ii) after that period of time within which a reasonable person would have acted. This means that, in many circumstances, DDA 1995 will treat as deliberate, omissions which could not properly be described as being deliberate. This is particularly relevant to the duty to make

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NLJ this week: Tightening the screws on JCT terminations
The Supreme Court has delivered a decisive ruling on termination under the JCT Design & Build form. Writing in NLJ this week, Andrew Singer KC and Jonathan Ward, of Kings Chambers, analyse Providence Building Services v Hexagon Housing Association [2026] UKSC 1, which restores the first-instance decision and curbs contractors’ termination rights for repeated late payment
NLJ this week: Old rules, fresh warnings in employment law
Secondments, disciplinary procedures and appeal chaos all feature in a quartet of recent rulings. Writing in NLJ this week, Ian Smith, barrister and emeritus professor of employment law at UEA, examines how established principles are being tested in modern disputes
NLJ this week: The rise of the ‘ChatGPT client’ rattles the profession
The AI revolution is no longer a distant murmur—it’s at the client’s desk. Writing in NLJ this week, Peter Ambrose, CEO of The Partnership and Legalito, warns that the ‘AI chickens’ have ‘come home to roost’, transforming not just legal practice but the lawyer–client relationship itself
NLJ this week: Surrogacy children caught in succession gap
A High Court ruling involving the Longleat estate has exposed the fault line between modern family building and historic trust drafting. Writing in NLJ this week, Charlotte Coyle, director and family law expert at Freeths, examines Cator v Thynn [2026] EWHC 209 (Ch), where trustees sought approval to modernise trusts that retain pre-1970 definitions of ‘child’, ‘grandchild’ and ‘issue’
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Fresh proposals to criminalise ‘nudification’ apps, prioritise cyberflashing and non-consensual intimate images, and even ban under-16s from social media have reignited debate over whether the Online Safety Act 2023 (OSA 2023) is fit for purpose. Writing in NLJ this week, Alexander Brown, head of technology, media and telecommunications, and Alexandra Webster, managing associate, Simmons & Simmons, caution against reactive law-making that could undermine the Act’s ‘risk-based and outcomes-focused’ design
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