An employee, whose work included manual labor, was terminated following deterioration in his medical condition which prevented him from continuing to work in any job that involved physical effort. The employer was unable to find a job suitable for the employee’s skills that did not involve physical effort.
The Court rejected the employee's contention and held that the employer had met its obligations under law. When an employee with a disability proves that there was no fault in his actions that justifies his dismissal, the employer is required to establish that the dismissal was not made in violation of the provisions of the Israeli Equal Rights for People with Disabilities Law. In order to counter the contention for discrimination, the employer must demonstrate that it has made sincere efforts to transfer the employee to another suitable position. However, the obligation is limited to trying to find an alternative and not to success in finding it. Here, the employee was employed in manual labor, in a workplace where the overwhelming majority of positions include a component of physical labor, hence, taking into account the employee's skills, despite the good will of the employer, there was no suitable position. Thus, this is not an unlawful dismissal and the employee is not entitled to compensation.