Mr M Basharat v London Luton Airport Operations Ltd — 2022

Mr Basharat presented claims of unfair dismissal, race discrimination and disability discrimination, but this judgment determined only a preliminary disability issue. Employment Judge Tynan, sitting alone, found that at the relevant times the claimant was not disabled within section 6 of the Equality Act 2010 by reason of carpal tunnel syndrome or by reason of stress, anxiety and depression. The tribunal therefore struck out the disability discrimination complaints as having no reasonable prospect of success. The judgment also records that the race discrimination claim had already been dismissed following withdrawal.

On carpal tunnel syndrome, the tribunal accepted that there was some evidence of more than minor or trivial effects by late December 2019 and January 2020, including difficulty using a mouse and lifting heavy luggage and shopping bags. However, those effects had only been present for weeks by 5 February 2020, and the contemporaneous medical evidence did not show that they were likely to last for at least 12 months. The recurrence provisions in Schedule 1 did not assist because there was no evidence of a continuous impaired ability to carry out day to day activities from December 2018 to October 2019.

On stress, anxiety and depression, the tribunal applied the approach in J v DLA Piper UK LLP and treated the evidence as a reaction to adverse workplace circumstances rather than a disabling mental impairment. It found that the medical records showed work related stress and anxiety that abated when the claimant was away from the workplace, with little or no adverse effect on ordinary day to day activities. The later diagnosis of mixed anxiety and depressive disorder in May 2023 did not establish disability at 7 November 2022, and the absence of expert medical evidence was a material gap in the claimant's case.