Case 2600789/2024 · Employment Tribunal
Mr G Tonder v Ascott Transport Limited — 2025
- Case reference
- 2600789/2024
- Decision date
- 29 July 2025
- Jurisdiction
- England & Wales
- Judge
- Employment Judge McTigue
- Venue
- Nottingham
Parties
2 namedClaimant
Mr G Tonder
Respondent
Key findings
Tribunal's reasoningThis was a reserved judgment on a preliminary disability issue only. Mr Tonder withdrew IBS, glaucoma and insulin resistance at the start of the hearing. The tribunal set the material period at 28 March 2021 to 23 May 2024, taking the 28 March 2021 self-certified absence for liver/kidney stones and hiatus hernia as the start point because the respondent's Bradford Factor approach was said to have taken account of disability-related absences.
The tribunal preferred Dr Mirza's GP evidence where it conflicted with Dr Fortuna's, and it found parts of the claimant's evidence on symptom severity and some historical matters unreliable or not credible. It applied section 6 Equality Act 2010 and Schedule 1 paragraphs 2 and 5, and referred to Walker v SITA Information Networking Computing Ltd, SCA Packaging Ltd v Boyle and Banaszczyk v Booker Ltd.
Depression was found to have been present from October 2021, but the claimant did not prove a substantial adverse effect on day-to-day activities during the material period. The tribunal also rejected the alternative case that the impairment would have been substantially adverse without citalopram; it noted the medical records contained little discussion of any functional effects.
Sleep apnoea was accepted as mild from 2 August 2022 to about 27 June 2023, but it was not found to be long-term or to have a substantial adverse effect, and the tribunal noted there had been no prescribed medication or treatment and no sufficient evidence of recurrence. By contrast, the tribunal held that the knee injury met the disability definition from 1 April 2023 to 23 May 2024 and that back pain/sciatica met the definition throughout the material period because of its chronic and long-standing effects.
The tribunal rejected disability status for the small hiatus hernia and for kidney stones. It found the hernia caused no effect on normal day-to-day activities and would not have had a substantial adverse effect without treatment, and it held the activities relied on for kidney stones were not normal day-to-day activities in any event. The substantive discrimination claims remain listed for final hearing on 10 to 13 August 2026.
Claims and outcomes
6 findings recordedThis case has mixed outcomes under at least one legal claim type. A tribunal can uphold some allegations and dismiss others under the same legal head, so rows below may represent separate issues or allegation groups from the judgment.
| Claim type | Issue or finding | Outcome | Protected characteristic | Award |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Disability discrimination | Preliminary disability finding. The tribunal accepted depression from October 2021, but held it did not have a substantial adverse effect on day-to-day activities during the material period and was not shown to do so without citalopram. | Dismissed | Disability | — |
| Disability discrimination | Preliminary disability finding. The tribunal accepted mild sleep apnoea from 2 August 2022 to about 27 June 2023, but found it was not long-term and did not have a substantial adverse effect, with no prescribed medication or treatment. | Dismissed | Disability | — |
| Disability discrimination | Preliminary disability finding. The tribunal held the knee injury satisfied the Equality Act definition of disability from 1 April 2023 to 23 May 2024. | Upheld | Disability | — |
| Disability discrimination | Preliminary disability finding. The tribunal accepted chronic back pain/sciatica had a substantial and long-term adverse effect throughout the material period. | Upheld | Disability | — |
| Disability discrimination | Preliminary disability finding. The tribunal found the small hiatus hernia caused no effect on normal day-to-day activities and would not have had a substantial adverse effect without treatment. |
Legal tests applied
6 references- s.6 Equality Act 2010
- Schedule 1 Equality Act 2010 paras 2(1) and 2(2)
- Schedule 1 Equality Act 2010 paras 5(1) and 5(2)
- Walker v SITA Information Networking Computing Ltd [2013] 2 WLUK 272
- SCA Packaging Ltd v Boyle [2009] UKHL 37
- Banaszczyk v Booker Ltd UKEAT/0132/15
Official outcome judgment PDF
Gov.uk primary recordThe official judgment PDF on gov.uk contains the tribunal's outcome, reasoning, and any remedy details. Where this page does not yet show extracted outcomes for every claim, use the PDF as the authoritative source.
Published on gov.uk under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
How we got this data
Case essentials (reference, date, judge, venue, country, claim categories) are extracted from the structured metadata gov.uk publishes alongside each decision. Parties and monetary figures are extracted from the judgment PDF text. Key findings and per-claim outcomes require a second extraction pass that is not yet complete for this case — until then, the primary source linked above is the authoritative record. See full methodology.
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