KAI HAM YUNG v Menzies Aviation (UK) Limited — 2023

The preliminary hearing was listed to decide whether the claimant was disabled by a left patella dislocation for the purposes of the Equality Act 2010 during April to October 2023. The tribunal refused the claimant's application to adjourn so that he could locate and prepare photos and videos, noting that he had known the purpose of the hearing for months and had previously been ordered to disclose evidence relevant to disability.

The tribunal reviewed the available medical and physiotherapy records. It found that the claimant suffered a left patella dislocation in June 2022, treated conservatively, and that the records up to May 2023 showed substantial recovery, including discarded mobility aids and completed physiotherapy exercises. The tribunal found the claimant's later account of more significant mobility problems inconsistent with the earlier records and found that he had tailored and exaggerated his account.

The tribunal considered whether nervousness or functional overlay about using the knee could itself be a mental impairment, but noted this was not the claimant's pleaded case and that he rejected that characterisation during the hearing. It concluded that any residual adverse effect by the relevant time was trivial, and that the claimant had not shown a substantial long-term adverse effect on normal day-to-day activities. The disability discrimination and harassment claims were therefore struck out.