Mrs T Hackney v Cidari Education Trust — 2023

This was a preliminary hearing by CVP on 24 March 2023 before Judge Cowx sitting alone. The claimant had brought claims for unfair dismissal and direct discrimination on grounds of disability. The issue decided in this judgment was whether Mrs Hackney was a disabled person for the purposes of section 6 of the Equality Act 2010.

The respondent had accepted that the claimant was disabled by reason of fibromyalgia, but did not accept disability arising from temporomandibular joint dysfunction, anxiety and depression, Hallux Valgus and Rigidus, or chronic back pain. The tribunal reviewed medical evidence from the claimant’s GP, a consultant oral and maxillofacial surgeon, and a chiropractor, together with the claimant’s own evidence about the impact of her conditions on daily life.

The tribunal found that temporomandibular joint dysfunction and anxiety and depression each had substantial, long-term adverse effects on the claimant’s ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. It accepted that corrective measures, including 3-monthly Botox injections and daily painkillers, allowed her to continue coping at work, and that without those measures the effect would more likely than not have been substantially worse. By contrast, chronic back pain and Hallux Valgus and Rigidus were found, on their own, not to have a substantial adverse effect, although they remained long-term impairments.

Looking at the overall picture, the tribunal concluded that the five conditions together, including fibromyalgia, had a substantial cumulative adverse effect on the claimant’s day-to-day activities. It therefore held that Mrs Hackney was a disabled person under the Equality Act 2010. No remedy was awarded in this judgment, because the hearing determined disability status only and did not decide liability on the substantive claims.