in person For the v Respondent — 2021

The claimant was employed as a bus driver from 15 December 2014 until his dismissal on 16 August 2019 with pay in lieu of notice, following absence from work from 6 June 2019. The tribunal recorded an incident on 3 June 2019 involving another bus driver, Michael Commodore, after which the claimant was signed off work with work related stress and anxiety. His original ET1 referred to unfair dismissal, unspecified discrimination and money claims, and he later particularised a complaint said to be disability discrimination and harassment arising from events after the June 2019 incident and from the respondent's handling of his absence and complaints.

At the open preliminary hearing, the tribunal allowed the claimant to amend his claim to add disability discrimination and harassment, treating the amendment as falling within category II in Selkent Bus Co Ltd v Moore. It noted the timing issues that could arise in relation to complaints before 15 August 2019 and considered whether the allegations formed part of a series of acts, but concluded that the claimant's reliance on his state of health, without more, did not justify an extension of time on a just and equitable basis.

The substantive issue was whether the claimant was disabled for Equality Act purposes. The tribunal did not accept his evidence that he was disabled on account of work related stress and anxiety, and held that the fit notes dated 11 June 2019 and 10 July 2019, without supporting medical evidence, were not enough to establish a mental impairment with a substantial adverse effect. It also found there was not a good chance that any impairment would last 12 months or longer, noting that the work related nature of the symptoms suggested they could cease when the workplace stress was resolved or the employment ended. The amended claims of disability discrimination and harassment were therefore dismissed.