Mr C Clelland v Represented by: Mr T Merck - Counsel Network Rail Infrastructure Limited — 2024

This was a public preliminary hearing to decide whether Mr Clelland was a disabled person within section 6 of the Equality Act 2010 during the agreed material period from July 2022 to August 2023. The impairment relied upon was depression and anxiety, and the issue was whether it had a substantial and long-term adverse effect on normal day-to-day activities.

The tribunal accepted that the claimant had experienced low mood and related symptoms since 2017, that his mental health worsened again after the Covid restrictions from around March 2020, and that the symptoms continued into 2022 and 2023. It accepted his evidence that he had difficulty getting out of bed, showering, doing housework, socialising, going out even to the shops, waking in the morning, and that he experienced severe mood swings. It also accepted that he had tried to contact his GP on several occasions between September and November 2022, told his manager in November 2022 that he thought he was suffering from depression, and later saw his GP and a mental health nurse in February and March 2023.

The tribunal concluded that these symptoms amounted to a substantial adverse effect on normal day-to-day activities and that the effect was long-term because the relevant period exceeded 12 months. It therefore held that the claimant was a disabled person under section 6 of the Equality Act 2010. The judgment did not decide the merits of any underlying discrimination complaint or award any remedy.