Did not attend and was not represented For the v Kettle Foods Ltd — 2022

The preliminary hearing at Norwich on 12 April 2023 was before Employment Judge Postle. The claimant did not attend and was not represented. The tribunal refused her application for a remote hearing because it was unsupported by medical evidence said to show that she could not attend in person.

The claimant had been employed by Kettle Foods Limited from 3 September 2018 until dismissal on 28 June 2022 for ill-health capability. The tribunal reviewed the history of her absence from June 2021, including chest pain, later references to Covid, stress and anxiety, Occupational Health reports, and her counselling records. It found that by June 2022 her wellbeing scores had reduced and that she had not been prescribed medication for stress or anxiety during the relevant period.

Applying the Equality Act 2010 disability definition, the tribunal accepted that the claimant may have had mild anxiety or stress, but found that the condition was not substantial and was not long term. It concluded that the evidence did not support her assertion that she was unable to leave her house or travel at all, and held that she did not satisfy section 6 of the Equality Act 2010. Her Equality Act claims were therefore dismissed.