Mr Chris Smith v Marr Corporation Limited t/a T2 Group — 2021

The claimant, Mr Chris Smith, was employed by Marr Corporation Limited t/a T2 Group from 25 June 2018 to 12 May 2020. The hearing concerned a preliminary issue on disability under section 6 of the Equality Act 2010; the claim form had also referred to automatic unfair dismissal and a failure to comply with the duty to make reasonable adjustments with regard to workload and hours of work, but those substantive claims were not decided in this judgment.

The tribunal accepted that Mr Smith began suffering from anxiety in June 2019, with panic attacks, difficulty concentrating and sleeping, sickness, tearfulness, and problems being in large groups. It found that those symptoms affected normal day-to-day activities such as concentration, sleep and attendance at places with crowds, including hospitals, and that he had been self-treating with neurolinguistic programming techniques from June 2019 until he later sought medical help.

The tribunal accepted that by February 2020 Mr Smith had decided his condition had reached a point where he needed outside help. It recorded that he was given a fit note on 13 February 2020 for acute stress reaction with symptoms of anxiety, prescribed medication, and then given further fit notes through to 2 April 2020 for mixed anxiety and depressive disorder. On return to work on 3 April 2020 he continued to take medication, and the respondent agreed to monitor his hours.

Applying section 6 Equality Act 2010, Schedule 1 paragraph 2(1), Schedule 1 paragraph 5(1), and the 2011 Statutory Guidance, the tribunal concluded that the impairment had a substantial adverse effect and that, although it had not yet lasted 12 months at the relevant date, it was likely to last at least 12 months. It therefore found that Mr Smith was disabled at the time of the events in question.