Mr Ian Escudier v Coca-Cola Europacific Partners — 2024

This was a reasons judgment on a preliminary disability issue in a disability discrimination case. The respondent accepted that the claimant was disabled by reason of deafness and tinnitus, but the tribunal was asked to determine whether he was also disabled by reason of cough syncope and anxiety and depression. Employment Judge Martin applied the usual disability definition and case law, noting that disability is a legal rather than medical decision and that the claimant bore the burden of proof.

On cough syncope, the tribunal accepted that the claimant had episodes of dizziness and occasional loss of consciousness, but found that the episodes were short-lived, that he was able to resume normal day-to-day activities afterwards, and that there was no sufficient medical evidence that the condition was long-term at the relevant time. The tribunal therefore found that cough syncope was not a disability within the Equality Act 2010.

On anxiety and depression, the tribunal accepted that the claimant had been absent from work for five months between February and July 2022 and that the impairment had a substantial effect during that period. However, it found that after his return to work he was coping well, had completed a phased return, and had returned to full duties and usual shifts. The tribunal was not satisfied on the evidence that the impairment continued to have a substantial adverse effect on normal day-to-day activities outside work or that it was long-term at the relevant time, so it did not find the claimant disabled by reason of anxiety and depression.

The judgment did not decide the substantive discrimination allegations or any remedy. It recorded that the full merits hearing would proceed in relation to deafness and tinnitus only.