Ms L Mulligan v Greenbrook Healthcare (Hounslow) Limited Heard: at Nottingham — 2023

This was a preliminary hearing to determine whether Ms Mulligan met the definition of disability under section 6 of the Equality Act 2010 during the agreed relevant period of May 2020 to 9 April 2022. By consent, she was disabled by hypertension throughout that period. The tribunal also found that asthma satisfied the statutory test at all material times, applying the cumulative effect of her impairments and accepting that the asthma materially added to fatigue and reduced stamina, particularly in relation to domestic chores.

The tribunal rejected the claim that arteriosclerosis made her a disabled person. It accepted that she experienced leg pain on prolonged walking and driving, but relied on the vascular evidence from 2021 and 2022 that the mild arterial disease was not the cause of those symptoms. On that basis, there was no objective causal link between arteriosclerosis and the adverse effects relied on, so the section 6 test was not met for that impairment.

The tribunal also held that cardiomyopathy did not make her disabled at the material time because the condition had resolved years before the relevant period and was not causing current adverse effects. It found, however, that she had been disabled by cardiomyopathy around 2003, when it materially contributed to shortness of breath and reduced ability to walk and do basic domestic tasks. That past disability had long since ceased, although she continued to take precautionary medication because of the possibility of recurrence.

Overall, the tribunal's conclusion was that Ms Mulligan was disabled during the material period by hypertension and asthma, but not by arteriosclerosis or current cardiomyopathy. No monetary remedy was determined in this preliminary judgment.