Mrs D Hawkins v Franklin Funeral Directors and 5 others — 2023

The tribunal dealt with a preliminary issue in Mrs D Hawkins's case. It was asked to decide whether she was a disabled person within section 6 Equality Act 2010 during the relevant period of June 2021 to December 2021. The issue whether the second and sixth respondents were acting as agents for the first respondent under section 109 had been accepted shortly before the hearing. No substantive liability or remedy issue was determined in this judgment.

The tribunal accepted that the claimant had a mental impairment, namely complex PTSD, diagnosed by Dr Grewal on 1 June 2021. It rejected the point that the report's use of the word 'impression' undermined the diagnosis, and it accepted the claimant's evidence as credible. It also accepted that paragraph 4 of her impact statement related to the relevant period, and it relied on contemporaneous medical material referring to nightmares, waking with doom, flashbacks, insomnia and anxiety. The tribunal accepted the claimant's account that the 11 August 2021 letter was aimed at reasonable adjustments for a return to work, and that her absence was because of PTSD, although the workplace environment was a stressor.

On the evidence as a whole, the tribunal found that complex PTSD had a substantial adverse effect on the claimant's normal day-to-day activities. It accepted effects on sleep, getting out of bed, leaving home, socialising, concentration and coping with tasks, and noted that she continued some payroll work until October 2021. The tribunal also found that the effects were long-term because the GP evidence said symptoms could recur even if they went into remission and were likely to last at least 12 months. It therefore held that the claimant was disabled within the meaning of section 6 Equality Act 2010 during the relevant period.