Previous case law has established that, when a disabled employee becomes unable to carry out their current role, the duty to make reasonable adjustments may require the employer to appoint the employee to an existing vacancy without competitive interview (Archibald v Fife Council).
The EAT has now confirmed that this will not be the case where the employer genuinely and reasonably considers that a redundant employee does not meet the essential criteria for the job. In this case the employee had previously interviewed for the same role and been found to have lacked two essential criteria. (Wade v Sheffield Hallam University)
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