Mr R Pearce Thomas v Pembrokeshire County Council — 2021

This was a reserved judgment on the preliminary question whether Mr Pearce Thomas was a disabled person for the purposes of the Equality Act 2010. The tribunal accepted the respondent's concession that he had ASD and developmental co-ordination disorder/dyspraxia, both lifelong conditions, and then considered whether those impairments had a substantial and long-term adverse effect on normal day-to-day activities. It found that they did, and held that he was disabled by reason of those impairments at all relevant times.

In reaching that conclusion, the tribunal accepted the claimant's evidence about difficulties with social interaction and communication, small talk, eye contact, telephone work, following unfamiliar routes, preparing food, and using tasks such as a photocopier. It treated the impact as more marked once he left full-time education and rejected the significance of earlier references to his difficulties as minor or light, as well as the inconsistency in the ET1 disability box. It considered the effect substantial, applying the low threshold in the EqA guidance and the authorities it cited on the definition of disability.

By contrast, the tribunal was not satisfied that stress-related anxiety and depression met the statutory definition. It found there was insufficient evidence about frequency, duration, and the effect of those conditions on day-to-day activities, and it was not persuaded that any effect was long term. It also treated the evidence as showing stress reactions to particular situations rather than a qualifying impairment. No monetary remedy was determined in these reasons because the hearing resolved only the preliminary disability issue.