Miss J. Donnachie v Telent Technology Services Limited — 2020

At an open preliminary hearing on 20 August 2020, Employment Judge Connolly considered only whether Miss J. Donnachie was a disabled person within the meaning of section 6 of the Equality Act 2010 at the agreed relevant time, being 30 September 2019 to 11 or 18 November 2019. The Respondent accepted that she had two physical impairments, menopause/menopausal symptoms and Raynaud's syndrome, that both were long term, and that menopausal symptoms caused anxiety and concentration problems. The issue for the tribunal was whether the effects on normal day-to-day activities were substantial, meaning more than minor or trivial.

The tribunal held that the menopausal symptoms did satisfy the definition of disability. It found that, without HRT patches, the claimant experienced hot flushes, palpitations, anxiety, disturbed sleep, fatigue, memory difficulties and concentration difficulties, and that these symptoms affected sleeping, walking and other physical activity, housework, gym use, computer work, reading and writing, weekend activities and memory. The judge referred to section 6, Schedule 1 paragraph 5, section 212, and the EHRC Code of Practice guidance, and concluded that the effect on the claimant's daily activities was more than minor or trivial.

The tribunal did not find that Raynaud's syndrome met the statutory test. It accepted pain and discomfort in cold conditions, but found the claimant could usually control symptoms by wearing warm clothing and moving away from draughts. The judge treated those steps as behavioural modifications rather than measures within Schedule 1 paragraph 5, and found that the condition affected her only exceptionally, such as where she was fixed in a draught or washing her car outside in winter. The claimant had not sought treatment for Raynaud's syndrome, and the judge noted that she had not described it as a disability in her health questionnaire, although that was not determinative.