Mr D Crowshaw v Breasley (UK) Ltd AT AN OPEN PRELIMINARY HEARING BY CVP — 2021

This was an open preliminary hearing before Employment Judge Hutchinson sitting alone. The claimant, Mr D Crowshaw, had brought claims including unfair dismissal, disability discrimination, and non-payment of wages. The hearing was directed to the preliminary issue of whether he was disabled for Equality Act purposes, together with whether any disability discrimination arguments should be struck out or made subject to a deposit order. The tribunal heard from the claimant, considered an agreed bundle, his impact statement and document list, and written submissions from both sides. The judge found the claimant to be a credible witness.

On the facts, the tribunal accepted that from at least December 2019 the claimant had been suffering from anxiety and depression arising against the background of serious business difficulties, including disputes with customers and financial problems. The judgment records psychotherapy consultations from January 2020, an online consultation on 2 November 2020 for depression and anxiety, and sickness absence from 26 November 2020 with a later fit note description of mixed anxiety and depressive disorder from 1 December 2020. The tribunal noted that there had been no formal diagnosis from the GP, but it relied on the claimant's evidence and the medical and documentary material before it.

Applying section 6 Equality Act 2010, section 12, the 2011 disability guidance, and the authorities cited in argument, the tribunal concluded that the claimant had a mental impairment that had a substantial and long-term adverse effect on normal day-to-day activities. The judge found effects on concentration, working under pressure, sleep, organising social life, tiredness and exhaustion, and the ability to cope with family life and other ordinary activities. The tribunal held that the adverse effects were more than minor or trivial and had lasted at least 11 months by the date of dismissal, with a likelihood of continuing beyond 12 months. It therefore found that the claimant was disabled at the relevant time.

The judgment did not determine liability for the underlying discrimination, unfair dismissal, or wages claims, and it made no monetary award. It instead set the case down for a four-day final hearing in August and September 2022, noted that judicial mediation would be considered, and gave directions for document exchange, witness statements, and an updated schedule of loss.