Miss C Williams v Fortell Rail Construction Ltd t/a Sky Blue Solutions & Others — 2021

At a preliminary hearing on 31 March 2021, Employment Judge Russell first refused to admit three late documents sent that morning, finding that they had minimal relevance to the disability issue, were mainly directed to knowledge, and would prejudice the respondents and risk an adjournment.

The claimant had worked for the third respondent as a Prison Escort from 13 March 2019 to 6 March 2020. It was not in dispute that she had depression and anxiety, but the tribunal had to decide whether the impairment was long-term and had a substantial adverse effect at the material time. The tribunal considered GP records from 2015 to 2020, a 2018 mental health referral, the claimant's disability impact statement, oral evidence, and a 8 March 2020 mental health report.

The tribunal accepted that the claimant had a long history of recurring depression and anxiety, that the effects worsened after she started work in March 2019 and became particularly marked after August 2019, and that she took an overdose on 25 February 2020. It found that the impairment substantially affected day-to-day activities including sleep, concentration, reading, travel, and work, and that the effects were likely to recur, so the claimant was disabled at the material times under section 6 Equality Act 2010.

The tribunal did not decide whether the alleged workplace conduct occurred, why it occurred, or whether it caused a deterioration in mental health, and it expressly said that the respondents' knowledge issue would remain for the final hearing. It also noted that expert evidence was not required in order to decide disability on the evidence available.