In person. For the v Respondent — 2021

This was a preliminary hearing on 12 November 2021 to determine whether the claimant was disabled for Equality Act purposes during the relevant period, which the tribunal identified as 18 January 2017 to 19 December 2019. The claim form, presented on 19 December 2019, pleaded unfair dismissal and disability discrimination, including direct discrimination, discrimination arising from disability, failure to make reasonable adjustments and harassment.

The tribunal accepted the claimant's evidence and the medical material that he had PTSD and recurrent depressive disorder arising from his experiences in the Bosnia conflict. It found that the impairment had a substantial adverse effect on normal day-to-day activities, including concentration, memory, communication, interaction with family and the public, social functioning, reading, cooking and managing finances. The tribunal relied in particular on the claimant's impact statement and medical evidence from Professor Hirsch, Dr Farrow, Dr Allen and Dr Bhandari.

Applying the Equality Act definition of disability, the tribunal held that the effects were long term because they had lasted for at least twelve months before January 2017 and continued through the material period, or were likely to do so. It therefore concluded that the claimant was disabled at the material time. As a result, the disability discrimination claims and the unfair dismissal claim were allowed to proceed to a substantive full hearing. No findings on liability for dismissal or discrimination, and no remedy, were determined in this judgment.