In person For the v Mr Collyer — 2022

At a preliminary hearing on 29 June 2022, Employment Judge Smeaton considered only whether Mr S Collins was disabled within the meaning of s.6(1) Equality Act 2010 at the material time, said to be February to March 2020. The claim form dated 26 June 2020 pleaded direct disability discrimination, unlawful deductions from wages, holiday pay, and failure to provide a written statement of particulars of employment, but those substantive claims were left to a final hearing listed for 8 to 10 August 2022.

The tribunal accepted that Mr Collins had an enlarged prostate and that this was an impairment. Applying the four questions from Goodwin v Patent Office, it found that the impairment had a substantial adverse effect on normal day-to-day activities because Mr Collins experienced pain, pressure, urinary frequency, and disturbed sleep, and that he had to slow down at work and take painkillers to carry out lifting, bending, carrying, and kneeling tasks. The judge also accepted that frequent toilet use, including being up three times a night, affected normal day-to-day activities concerned with personal wellbeing.

The tribunal preferred Mr Collins' evidence over the Respondent's reliance on the medical records. It accepted that he had tended to downplay his symptoms to doctors and noted that the absence of medication at the material time did not undermine his case because he was still under investigation for possible cancer or infection. The judge also found that the effects were likely to last 12 months or more, applying the statutory long-term test and the guidance on likelihood, and noted that the effect of ongoing treatment was ignored for the disability assessment.

Accordingly, the tribunal held that Mr Collins met the definition of disability under s.6(1) EqA 2010 at the relevant time. It recorded that all claims would proceed to the final hearing.