Mr G Lee (Solicitor). For the v Respondent — 2021

At the open preliminary hearing on 2 July 2021, Employment Judge M Warren determined the preliminary issue of whether Mr Morina was disabled within the meaning of s.6 Equality Act 2010 at the material time, namely 7 November 2019 to 26 November 2019. The judge allowed the claimant to rely on a revised impact statement because the original version did not adequately address the effect of the alleged impairment on day-to-day activities.

The tribunal accepted contemporaneous medical evidence showing a history from 2006 onward of depression, anxiety, social anxiety, low mood, poor sleep, poor concentration, fatigue and related symptoms. It accepted Mr Morina's evidence, where corroborated by the medical records, about the effect of those conditions on concentration, memory, motivation, mood, sleep and social interaction. The judge found that the impairment had effects going beyond minor or trivial and that those effects had persisted over many years.

The respondent's case was that the claimed difficulties were caused by alcohol use, drug use and gambling addiction, but the tribunal rejected that characterisation and found that those matters were symptoms of the anxiety and depression rather than their cause. It also noted that alopecia had on occasion exacerbated the claimant's anxiety and depression. On that basis the tribunal held that Mr Morina had a mental impairment which was substantial and long term, and therefore was a disabled person under the Equality Act 2010 at the material time.

The respondent's application for costs, seeking £780 for counsel's brief fee after the earlier preliminary hearing had been adjourned, was refused. The judge found that the late request for medical records and the late service of the impact statement amounted to unreasonable conduct in the preparation of the case, but declined to make a costs order because of Mr Morina's financial circumstances and the disproportionate effect such an order would have had on him.