Mr S Johnsen v Miss K Binji and 2 others — 2023

This was a preliminary hearing in a claim brought by Mr S Johnsen against Miss K Binji, Mr D Moore and AJB Woodworking Ltd. The only claim identified in the judgment was disability discrimination. The tribunal accepted that the claimant had mental health problems, but the central issue was whether he met the Equality Act 2010 definition of disability at the relevant time.

The tribunal found that the relevant dates were 28 March 2022 and 13 April 2022. It accepted that the claimant saw his GP on 15 February 2022, had disrupted sleep and anxiety, and was prescribed Sertraline, but found there was no formal diagnosis and no evidence that the condition had lasted, or was likely to last, for 12 months at those dates. The judge also noted that the claimant was able to continue working, obtained alternative employment within a month or two of leaving AJB Woodworking Ltd, and continued to work in self-employed capacity.

The tribunal considered the claimant’s evidence about the impact of his condition, including anxiety, panic attacks, low mood and concentration difficulties, but preferred the contemporaneous evidence showing that the condition was still undeveloped and undiagnosed at the material time. It also placed weight on the fact that the claimant had completed his claim form by ticking that he did not have a disability, which the judge found undermined credibility. On that basis, the tribunal concluded that the claimant was not disabled within section 6 Equality Act 2010.

Because disability was not made out, the tribunal struck out the disability discrimination claim under Rule 37 as having no reasonable prospect of success. In the alternative, the judge said the claim would still have had no reasonable prospect of success because the appraisal issues discussed on 13 April 2022 concerned the claimant’s training and coordination of staff, not his mental health, and the alleged comment on 28 March 2022 was not established on the evidence.