Ms E Stuart-King (counsel, acting on a direct access basis) For the v Ms Denton (counsel, instructed by Rradar) — 2021

At the open preliminary hearing on 28 November 2021, Employment Judge Smeaton considered only whether Mr O'Neil was disabled within the meaning of s.6 Equality Act 2010 at the material time, said to be between November 2019 and June 2020. The claimant had brought disability discrimination, race discrimination, harassment and victimisation claims, but the respondent's knowledge of any disability was left for the final hearing.

The tribunal accepted that Mr O'Neil had dyslexia and relied on the Indigo Dyslexia Centre report from Martin Parsonage and Ian Jenkinson, which recorded weaknesses in reading, spelling, phonological processing and short-term auditory memory and noted difficulties with literacy and numeracy. Applying the Goodwin v Patent Office four-question approach, the tribunal found that the impairment affected normal day-to-day activities, including reading, writing and comprehension, and that the adverse effect was substantial and long-term.

The tribunal preferred Mr O'Neil's evidence, supported by his sons and by the report, over the respondent's challenge that his account was exaggerated or unreliable. It accepted that he had substantial difficulties with reading newspapers, recipes and forms, using services such as telephone banking, and carrying out work tasks that required reading, writing and comprehension, even though he developed coping strategies and was able to work with assistance from others. The tribunal therefore held that Mr O'Neil was disabled for the purposes of s.6 EqA 2010, and the case proceeded to a final hearing on the remaining issues.