Mr J Baker v The Chief Constable of Gwent Police — 2019

At this preliminary hearing, Employment Judge Harfield sitting alone found that Mr Baker had a mental impairment, but that it did not amount to a disability under section 6 of the Equality Act 2010 until 2 May 2017, when the refusal of voluntary redundancy was communicated to him. The judge accepted evidence of disrupted sleep, tearfulness, low mood, short temper and some concentration difficulties from August 2016, but held that there was no substantial adverse effect on normal day-to-day activities at that stage because there was no sufficient evidence that ordinary activities, family life, social interaction or his work performance were materially affected.

The tribunal found that Mr Baker’s condition deteriorated after 2 May 2017. GP and occupational health records referred to work-related stress, low mood, tearfulness, poor sleep, reduced concentration and occasional suicidal thoughts, and the judge accepted that by then the impairment had a substantial adverse effect on normal day-to-day activities. The judge found that this lasted for about seven and a half months, until Mr Baker returned to work in December 2017, but that the evidence did not show a 12-month long-term effect or a likely long-term effect at the relevant time.

By the time of the alleged discriminatory acts in 2018, the judge found that the substantial adverse effect had ceased, even though some symptoms remained. The judge also rejected the argument that the condition was a recurring one likely to recur within the meaning of the Equality Act 2010, noting that the claimant had improved by the end of 2017 and that the medical evidence did not show a sufficient likelihood of future substantial adverse effect. The result was that Mr Baker was found not to be disabled at the material times, so the disability discrimination claim was dismissed; the judgment records that the constructive unfair dismissal claim continued.