Mr M Cole v University of East London — 2024

The public preliminary hearing determined the sole issue of whether Mr M Cole was a disabled person within section 6 of the Equality Act 2010 at the material time, which had been set as 1 September 2022 to 17 January 2024. Mr Cole relied on generalised anxiety disorder. Employment Judge Brewer found that he was not disabled at the material time and dismissed the direct disability discrimination claims.

The tribunal reviewed GP records, occupational health material, Access to Work reports, therapist and support-worker material, and Mr Cole's disability impact statement. It found that the evidence did not show generalised anxiety disorder before the October 2023 GP reference and did not establish that he met the requirement of having that mental impairment from October 2023. The tribunal accepted that he had suffered stress or anxiety at points, particularly work-related stress or anxiety from about March 2023, but treated that as, at most, a possible mental impairment requiring consideration of adverse effect.

On adverse effect, the tribunal found an overwhelming difference between the impacts described in the impact statement and the contemporaneous medical and occupational records. It found that the supported impacts were, at their highest, some sleeping difficulties, one rash, a possible vertigo-like symptom and possibly one night terror, without contemporaneous medical linkage to anxiety. It also noted no contemporaneous record of difficulty carrying out work, union duties, volunteering, or normal day-to-day activities other than the dispute about course leader duties.

The tribunal concluded that the claimant's anxiety, whether chronic or otherwise, did not have an adverse effect on his ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. It was therefore unnecessary to decide the substantial and long-term elements, but the tribunal added that any impact was not substantial and that it was difficult to find work-related anxiety likely to last 12 months, especially after the claimant resigned in January 2024. No remedy was awarded.