In Williams v The Trustees of Swansea University Pension & Assurance Scheme and another, the Court of Appeal held that an employee had not suffered unfavourable treatment arising from his disability when his ill-health retirement pension was based on the lower salary he received as a result of a reasonable adjustment to reduce his hours. The CA rejected Williams’ argument that his pension should have been calculated using his previous full-time salary. Unfavourable treatment cannot occur where a disabled person has the advantage of an ill-health retirement pension, but that advantage could have been greater had the disability arisen earlier. The CA confirmed that ‘unfavourable treatment’ means placing a hurdle in front of, or creating a particular difficulty for, or disadvantaging a person because of something which arises in consequence of their disability.

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