Claimant v Williamson v Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents — 2022

This was a reserved judgment on a preliminary issue only. The Claimant, Mrs V Williamson, worked for the Respondent as a Health and Safety Trainer/Consultant from 1 August 2020 until she resigned with effect from 30 April 2021. The Respondent accepted that hypothyroidism was a disability but disputed that chronic kidney disease stage 3 amounted to a disability under section 6 of the Equality Act 2010 because, it said, the condition did not have a substantial adverse effect on normal day-to-day activities.

The tribunal heard the Claimant’s oral evidence, read her written disability impact statement, and considered GP records and NHS material. It found her to be a truthful and credible witness. It accepted that some symptoms were attributable to chronic kidney disease, including swollen feet and ankles and headaches, while other symptoms were associated with hypothyroidism or overlapped between the two conditions. The tribunal noted that the hypothyroidism symptoms were largely controlled by medication, whereas the chronic kidney disease symptoms were not.

Applying section 6 and Schedule 1 of the Equality Act 2010, and reminding itself that substantial means more than minor or trivial, the tribunal held that chronic kidney disease had a substantial and long-term adverse effect on the Claimant’s ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. It accepted that tiredness and lethargy caused her to plan her days to avoid becoming over-tired, reduced some social activities, affected her concentration and driving, and that muscle stiffness and swollen feet and ankles made it difficult to keep up when walking and to stand for long periods. The judgment therefore declared that at the material time the Claimant was disabled by virtue of chronic kidney disease stage 3. No substantive liability or remedy on the underlying discrimination claims was decided in this judgment.