Mr D Iyashere v Gist Ltd — 2023

This was a public preliminary hearing before Employment Judge Quill sitting alone to decide whether the claimant had a disability within section 6 of the Equality Act 2010. The tribunal allowed the claimant to rely on anxiety/depression as well as back pain/sciatica. The alleged Equality Act contraventions were said to relate to the dismissal around 2 June 2021, with some allegations concerning absence or work rate said to have arisen earlier.

The tribunal found that the claimant had not shown that his skin condition was caused by stress or by any mental impairment, and that it was not the impairment relied on for the claim. For back pain/sciatica, the tribunal found earlier references in 2012 and 2014 did not establish an ongoing condition, and that symptoms in September 2020 had resolved. When the pain returned around 9 March 2021, it was the second bout within six months, and from that date it became likely that substantial adverse effects would last or recur beyond 12 months.

For anxiety/depression, the tribunal relied on GP records and medical correspondence showing mixed anxiety and depressive disorder, medication, attempted non-pharmaceutical treatment, and effects including low mood, sleeplessness, and avoidance of social interactions. It found that the impairment had a substantial and long-term adverse effect before the claimant's employment with the respondent began, and that later periods without substantial effects did not mean the condition had become only a past disability.