Mr C Ward (Claimant’s father) For the v Mr M Sellwood barrister — 2022

This was an open preliminary hearing on 29 April 2022 before Employment Judge Truscott QC. The issue was whether Ms Ward was disabled within the meaning of section 6 of the Equality Act 2010 at the times material to her disability discrimination claims. The claimant was represented by her father and relied on stress, anxiety and PTSD; the respondent was represented by counsel.

The tribunal reviewed GP records from 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2020, including prescriptions for Escitalopram, Sertraline, Propranolol and Zopiclone, a panic attack on 16 January 2020, an assault on 8 February 2020, and a GP consultation on 26 March 2020. It accepted that the panic attacks and episodes of stress and anxiety had a substantial adverse effect at those times, but it found that the medical records showed gaps and periods when the symptoms had subsided, and it did not accept the claimant's evidence that the difficulties had continued continuously through 2019 and 2020.

Applying section 6(1) EqA and the Schedule 1 provisions on long-term effect and recurrence, with reference to authorities including McDougall, Igweike and Sullivan, the tribunal held that the substantial adverse effects had not lasted, and were not likely to last, for 12 months. It also concluded that the effects were not likely to recur, noting among other things that the claimant was not participating in therapy at the time. The tribunal therefore held that the claimant did not meet the full definition of disability under the Equality Act, so the disability discrimination claims did not succeed at this stage and no monetary award was made in this judgment.