In person For the v Respondent — 2024

At the public preliminary hearing on 27 September 2024, Employment Judge Alliott held that the claimant's direct sex discrimination and harassment allegations about comments said to have been made on 5 September 2022 were out of time. The tribunal found those allegations did not amount to a continuing act, that the complaint was nearly six months late, and that it was not just and equitable to extend time, so those claims were dismissed for want of jurisdiction. A separate sex discrimination allegation about failing or refusing to deploy the claimant to a site closer to his home was not finally determined and was left for the full merits hearing.

The tribunal accepted that the claimant had a physical impairment of chronic pain in his upper abdomen following surgery for an abdominal hernia. It found the impairment had lasted for at least 12 months by 1 April 2022 and, taking account of the medical and occupational health evidence, that the pain had a substantial adverse effect on normal day-to-day activities such as bending, twisting, stretching, manual handling, driving, walking stairs, dressing, showering and shopping. The claimant was therefore disabled within the meaning of the Equality Act 2010 at all material times between 1 April 2022 and 11 April 2023. The tribunal said the evidence about PTSD and depression was insufficient at that stage, but it allowed the claimant a further opportunity to file proper medical evidence on that issue.

On limitation for the disability complaints, the tribunal considered allegations said to have occurred on 31 August 2022, 14 September 2022, 28 January 2023 and 20 February 2023. Although those events were individually out of time, the tribunal found a prima facie case that they could form part of a continuing course of conduct up to 1 March 2023, so it did not dismiss the disability claims on limitation grounds at that stage. Applying the Selkent balancing exercise, it allowed an amendment to add a s.15 disability discrimination allegation concerning the claimant being moved from the ground floor to the first floor in November 2022. It treated the separate proposed amendment about opening boxes heavier than the recommended 5kg limit as already covered by the existing list of issues, so no amendment was needed for that point.