Mrs S Ahmed v Alternative Futures Group Ltd PRELIMINARY HEARING — 2020

At this preliminary hearing, the tribunal found that Mrs S Ahmed had a disability for Equality Act purposes during the relevant period, accepting that she had a mental impairment described in the evidence as trauma and that it had a substantial and long-term adverse effect on day-to-day activities. The tribunal relied on the medical records and the claimant's disability impact statement, and noted that an expert medical report would have been helpful but was not available.

The disability discrimination complaint was limited by time. The tribunal held that allegations before January 2019 were out of time and that it was not just and equitable to extend time for those matters. It held that the complaint could proceed only in respect of acts between January 2019 and February 2020, which it treated as conduct extending over a period. The tribunal accepted that 'trauma' was being used as an umbrella label for the claimant's mental health history and said the focus was on effect rather than the precise medical cause.

The unfair dismissal complaint was held to be in time. The respondent's strike out and deposit order application was refused because the tribunal could not say, on the material before it and without hearing evidence, that either the unfair dismissal claim or the reduced disability discrimination claim had little or no reasonable prospect of success. The claim was therefore allowed to proceed to a final hearing, with the earlier events remaining relevant only as background.