Legal Aid South Africa v Jansen (CA3/2019) [2020] ZALAC 37 (21 July 2020)

Proud and privileged to have been involved in this successful Judgement in the Labour Appeal Court for our client, Legal Aid South Africa whom had appealed against the judgment of the Labour Court which had held that Mr Jansen’s dismissal was automatically unfair in terms of section 187(1)(f) of the Labour Relations Act and that he had been unfairly discriminated against in terms of section 6 of the Employment Equity Act . The Labour Appeal Court held that depression is a prevalent illness, employers have a duty to deal with it sympathetically and should investigate it fully and consider reasonable accommodation and alternatives short of dismissal. In addition, where depression may account in part for an employee’s misconduct, depending on the circumstances and the nature of the misconduct, dismissal may not be appropriate. However, for the reasons explained in the full Judgement copied herein, there was no proper claim of substantive unfairness and the Labour Court had erred in finding unfair discrimination and that the dismissal was automatically unfair. The appeal was therefore upheld.

*Disclaimer: This advisory should not be interpreted as legal advice.

Author: Michele Engela

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