In person For the v Respondent — 2025

The claimant worked for Darlington Borough Council as a Maintenance Surveyor from 1 August 2023 to 31 January 2024 and was dismissed during his probationary period for failing to meet the respondent's standards. He presented disability discrimination claims on 22 March 2024. At a preliminary hearing the tribunal was asked to decide whether he was a disabled person within the meaning of s.6 Equality Act 2010 at the time of the alleged events.

The claimant relied on ASD, anxiety, low self-esteem and IBD, and later also referred to dyspraxia and ADD. The tribunal reviewed his evidence, GP records, and a report from the Helen Arkell Dyslexia Centre. It held that there was no medical evidence of ASD, that the GP notes showed periods of stress rather than a mental impairment of anxiety, and that the bowel symptoms in the records did not establish IBD or any substantial adverse effect on day-to-day activities.

The tribunal also considered the report referring to specific learning difficulties, dyspraxia and possible ADD, but found it did not amount to a diagnosis of ASD or ADD and was not reliable evidence that the claimant had specific learning difficulties or dyspraxia. In any event, the tribunal was not satisfied that any such impairment had a substantial adverse effect, noting the claimant's coping strategies and the evidence that his limitations did not go beyond normal differences in ability. It therefore found that he was not a disabled person at the material time and struck out his disability discrimination claims.