Image of Rachel Crasnow KC
Rachel Crasnow KC will represent Sanju Pal in the Court of Appeal on 10 and 11 November 2026, leading Elaine Banton of Doughty Street Chambers. They are instructed by Gerard Airey of Kilgannon & Partners LLP.
Accenture (UK) Ltd is appealing a decision of the Employment Appeal Tribunal concerning unfair dismissal and disability discrimination. The case raises questions about how employers assess capability under an “up or out” promotion model and how tribunals assess whether the effects of endometriosis amount to a disability under the Equality Act 2010.
Ms Pal worked at Accenture for around ten years before her dismissal in 2019. Accenture assessed her performance under its “up or elsewhere” model, which treated a lack of readiness for promotion as underperformance. Ms Pal was experiencing significant symptoms of endometriosis around the time of her dismissal.
The Employment Tribunal found that procedural failings made Ms Pal’s dismissal unfair. It reduced her compensation to zero because it concluded that a fair process would have led to the same outcome. It also found that Ms Pal was not disabled within the meaning of the Equality Act 2010.
In January 2026, the Employment Appeal Tribunal allowed Ms Pal’s appeal. It held that the tribunal had applied the wrong approach to assessing whether Accenture would or might have dismissed her had it followed a fair procedure. It also held that capability must be assessed by reference to the work the employee was employed to do, and that a lack of readiness for promotion may therefore fall outside capability as a potentially fair reason for dismissal.
On disability discrimination, the Employment Appeal Tribunal held that the tribunal had failed to properly assess the evidence of how endometriosis affected Ms Pal’s day-to-day activities. It also identified errors in the tribunal’s assessment of what Accenture could reasonably have been expected to know about any disability and whether the treatment complained of was proportionate.
The Employment Appeal Tribunal sent the case back to a differently constituted Employment Tribunal for reconsideration. Accenture now asks the Court of Appeal to restore the original tribunal’s decision.
Read the Employment Appeal Tribunal judgment in Ms S Pal v Accenture (UK) Ltd [2026] EAT 12
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