Mrs D Bouklieva v Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and 3 others — 2021

This was a reserved judgment following an open preliminary hearing about whether Mrs D Bouklieva was disabled within the meaning of the Equality Act 2010 at the material time, April to 31 October 2021. The tribunal recorded that she was pursuing various causes of action including disability discrimination, but this judgment determined only the disability-status issue and made separate case management orders.

Employment Judge Joffe found that the claimant had a left shoulder impairment which amounted to a disability. The tribunal accepted that the shoulder symptoms had a long history, waxed and waned, and were likely to recur. Looking at the activities the claimant could not do, or could do only with pain and strong painkillers, the tribunal found a more than minor or trivial effect on day-to-day activities during the 2021 exacerbation and at earlier exacerbations.

The tribunal also found that the claimant had a lower back impairment which amounted to a disability. Although the lower back pain did not have a substantial adverse effect when it was only at the lower end of the pain scale, the history showed repeated exacerbations causing more than minor or trivial effects, including difficulty getting out of bed and substantial pain with walking, sitting or standing for long periods and lifting medium-sized objects. Those more severe symptoms were likely to recur in the relevant period.

The tribunal did not find that the left wrist condition alone had a substantial adverse effect on day-to-day activities, but held that it clearly contributed to the problems caused by the left shoulder and lower back impairments. Taking those impairments together, the left wrist impairment formed part of the disability finding. By contrast, the tribunal found that headaches, the neck condition, right wrist condition, heart symptoms and leg conditions were not disabilities at the material time, for reasons including insufficient evidence of substantial adverse effect, lack of relevant symptoms, symptoms that were not long-term, or conditions that had recovered. The issue whether premature menopause was a disability was left for further representations at a later preliminary hearing. No remedy was awarded in this judgment.