Ms Moses For the v Ms Denton (counsel, instructed by Rradar) — 2021

This was a reserved preliminary hearing before Employment Judge Bartlett, sitting alone, to decide whether Ms Greenwood had a disability within the meaning of section 6 Equality Act 2010. By the time of the hearing, the respondents had conceded that hyperthyroidism, depression and acute stress and anxiety were disabilities, so the only issue was whether the claimant's aneurysm, and its aftermath, amounted to a disability. The claimant said the aneurysm surgery in 2008 left her with short-term memory and concentration problems, and also with episodes of loss of consciousness when vomiting.

The tribunal did not accept that the aneurysm itself was the relevant impairment. It found that the aneurysm had been reabsorbed and that what had to be considered were the after-effects of the operation and treatment. It also found that the claimant's vasovagal episodes were not a disability, because they only occurred when she vomited and were therefore too infrequent to have a substantial adverse effect on normal day-to-day activities.

On the evidence, the tribunal found only limited pre-termination references to memory and concentration difficulties in 2008 and 2013, but accepted that the claimant's short-term memory and concentration problems were present from at least early June 2019 and became more significant once she was working full-time with the first respondent. It accepted that those difficulties affected normal day-to-day activities such as cooking, feeding dogs, following verbal instructions and conversations, and that the interference was substantial because it was more than minor or trivial.

The tribunal held that the impairment was long-term because it was expected to last for many years and was managed by coping strategies rather than cure or suppression. It therefore found that, at the material time, the claimant had a disability within the meaning of the Equality Act 2010. The judgment did not decide liability on the underlying discrimination or unfair dismissal claims and made no monetary award.