In Person For the v Respondent — 2023

At an open preliminary hearing on 26 April 2023, the tribunal considered only whether Mr W Taplin was a disabled person for Equality Act 2010 purposes at the material times. The claimant said he had stress, anxiety and depression arising from a work data breach in April 2021 and the respondent's handling of the matter from June 2021 onwards. The respondent denied that the alleged impairments met the statutory definition of disability.

The tribunal accepted that the claimant experienced stress and symptoms of stress, and that his hypertension was exacerbated by work stress. It found, however, that there was very little supporting evidence that he had depression or anxiety as medical impairments. The GP records focused on hypertension and work stress, and the tribunal found that the claimant's own evidence did not show chronic anxiety or depression beyond stress linked to the workplace situation.

The tribunal further found that any effects on day-to-day activities were not shown to be caused by a disability. It held that rumination, anger and upset were reactions to the work events rather than effects of depression or anxiety; that sleep disturbance was linked to his hiatus hernia rather than the claimed mental impairments; and that his decision not to rejoin a chess club was not shown to be impairment-related. Although it observed that any such effects might have been long-term because the stressors persisted, it concluded that no substantial adverse effect caused by an impairment had been proved.

On that basis, the tribunal held that the claimant was not disabled within the meaning of section 6 Equality Act 2010 and dismissed the disability claim. The claimant's wider claims were noted as continuing to a later final hearing, but they were not determined in this judgment.