Ms Adele Smith v Dunton Environmental Limited — 2023

At the preliminary hearing on 6 October 2023 before Employment Judge Gilroy KC, the tribunal was asked to decide whether Ms Adele Smith was a disabled person within the meaning of s.6 Equality Act 2010 for the purposes of her disability discrimination claims, by reference to dyslexia and/or ADHD. Shortly before the hearing, the Respondent no longer contested that she was disabled by reference to dyslexia, so the only issue for determination was whether she was disabled by reason of ADHD at the relevant time.

The Claimant relied on a disability impact statement, a report from Ms Alison Earey dated 7 October 2019, and a self-completed ADHD checklist (ASDV1). The tribunal noted that Ms Earey’s report was an assessment of dyslexia, not ADHD, and that she had said the Claimant might wish to pursue an assessment for dyspraxia and ADHD. There was no medical diagnosis of ADHD in the material before the tribunal, no supporting GP records, and no expert evidence allowing the tribunal to determine whether the symptoms described by the Claimant were attributable to dyslexia or ADHD. The tribunal also treated the self-completed ADHD form as a subjective document.

The tribunal was not persuaded on the balance of probabilities that the Claimant had ADHD at the relevant time, so the question whether ADHD amounted to a disability under s.6 did not arise. The judgment records that, as far as the disability claims were concerned, the case would proceed solely in relation to the admitted condition of dyslexia.