Mr Kerry Brown For the v Respondent — 2022

The claimant, Miss Dawn Vernon, had worked for Milton Keynes Council from 16 November 2009 until her dismissal on 2 February 2021. In this preliminary hearing on 19 April 2022, the tribunal did not decide the merits of the unfair dismissal or disability discrimination complaints. The only issue was whether, at the material time, she was disabled because of a mental impairment, in circumstances where the respondent accepted disability by reason of her back and wrist condition but disputed a mental health impairment.

The tribunal accepted the medical and factual evidence that the claimant had a long-standing condition of depression and anxiety treated with medication since about 2000. It relied on the GP letter from Dr George dated 3 February 2022, which said her symptoms worsened around 2015, that she needed GP review, counselling and increased anti-depressants, and that she had needed time off work because she could not cope with stress. The tribunal also took account of the July 2017 and 25 November 2020 occupational health reports, including the 2017 report stating that while she had symptoms her day-to-day activities were substantially adversely affected, but were then improving with medication.

The tribunal found that the claimant’s symptoms, including what she described as a “foggy brain”, difficulty reading, difficulty retaining the thread of a story, problems concentrating for long periods, and difficulty keeping up with matters at work and at home, amounted to a substantial adverse effect on normal day-to-day activities. It treated the medication as ameliorating those difficulties, but found that substantial effects remained notwithstanding treatment. It also found that, if the condition had fluctuated, recurrence could well happen and was likely to recur, so the long-term test was met.

The tribunal therefore held that the claimant was disabled because of her mental health condition, depression and anxiety, and that this had been the case since 2015 and during the relevant period at least between September 2020 and February 2021. No monetary award or other remedy was determined in this judgment, because it was confined to the preliminary disability issue.