New case law – question on whether the Swedish Prison and Probation Service had just reasons for terminating an employee with a disability and question on discrimination due to a lack of accessibility (AD 2026 nr 39)

Question whether the Swedish Prison and Probation Service (Sw: Kriminalvården) had valid grounds for dismissing an employee who, due to a disability, lacks the capacity to perform the duties of a prison officer, and whether the employee has been subjected to discrimination due to a lack of accessibility.

The parties agree that the employee lacks the capacity to work in the role of prison officer and that the Prison and Probation Service has fulfilled its duty of rehabilitation. The main issue in dispute is whether, and to what extent, the employee has the capacity to work in other positions within the Prison and Probation Service, and what significance her reduced capacity to work has when assessing whether it is reasonable to require a redeployment. The Labour Court has found that the employee’s capacity to work is permanently reduced to 50 per cent, even in a role well-adapted to the employee’s needs. The Labour Court has further found that, in this case, it was not reasonable to require the Prison and Probation Service to offer the employee a full-time position and subsequently adapt such position The Labour Court has therefore found that the Prison and Probation Service had valid grounds for the dismissal and that the employee has not been subjected to discrimination.

Read more here (Swedish).