Mr J Thorne v Lyreco UK Ltd — 2026

At a preliminary hearing on 21 August 2026, Employment Judge Livesey dismissed Mr J Thorne's complaints that Lyreco UK Ltd had failed to make reasonable adjustments under section 20 of the Equality Act. The tribunal found that he was not disabled within the statutory definition during the period leading up to his resignation on 20 May 2025. His asserted disability was anxiety and depression.

Mr Thorne had worked for the respondent for 24 years and was a Regional Distribution Centre Manager. His appraisal and meeting records referred to long hours, work pressure and stress during 2024. He said that substantial effects on his daily activities had begun by June or July 2024, including effects at home despite his continued functioning at work. The tribunal did not find the evidence of substantial effects before December compelling when assessed against the meeting records, medical evidence and his repeated descriptions of reaching breaking point shortly before Christmas.

The tribunal accepted that work pressures had caused a significant and debilitating breakdown or burnout by December 2024, with substantial effects on normal day-to-day activities. Mr Thorne was signed off work from 24 December, saw his NHS GP on 16 January 2025 and began Sertraline on 13 March after developing depressive symptoms. The tribunal found that the evidence of effects mattered more than whether the condition was described as burnout, depression, stress or anxiety.

The claim failed on the long-term requirement. Under section 6 and Schedule 1 of the Equality Act, the claimant had to establish that the substantial adverse effects had lasted, or were likely to last, at least 12 months, or for the rest of his life. Applying the likelihood standard in SCA Packaging Ltd v Boyle, the question was whether that duration could well have occurred. Only five months had passed by his resignation, so the tribunal considered whether the evidence then supported substantial effects continuing for at least another seven months. That assessment had to be made without hindsight.

The occupational health report of 30 April 2025 linked a return to work to management addressing Mr Thorne's concerns and recommended mediation. Although it advised assuming that the Equality Act applied, it did not establish the required likely duration. The GP's letter of 28 April 2026 did not assist either: it was written much later and referred to consultations otherwise unsupported by evidence in the bundle. The tribunal accepted that symptoms continued after resignation, but could not use that later course to establish the likelihood at the relevant time. It found that the evidence did not establish that the substantial effects were likely to last 12 months or more.

The remaining complaint of constructive unfair dismissal proceeds to a final hearing, listed for five days in July 2027. Its merits were not decided at this preliminary hearing. No monetary award was recorded.