E.T. Z (WR) EMPLOYMENT TRIBUNALS (SCOTLAND) Case No: 4101136/20225 Held at Aberdeen on March 2023 Employment Judge J M Hendry Mr A Burr v Aberdeen Day Project Ltd — 2023

This was a preliminary hearing on disability status in a claim brought by Mr A Burr against Aberdeen Day Project Ltd t/a The Bread Maker. The relevant period was January 2022, leading up to the claimant's dismissal on 16 January 2022. The tribunal had to decide whether he had a physical or mental impairment within section 6 of the Equality Act 2010.

The claimant relied on back, neck and hip pain, depression and anxiety, and possible autism. The tribunal accepted that he had experienced intermittent back and neck problems following an earlier injury, and it considered chiropractic reports and limited GP material, but it found that the evidence did not show a substantial adverse effect on normal day-to-day activities or a long-term effect. It noted that the symptoms appeared to fluctuate and to arise after particular events such as heavy lifting or sleeping in his car.

On depression and anxiety, the tribunal accepted that the claimant had experienced periods when he felt depressed, including after a row with his mother at Christmas 2021, but it found no sufficient evidence of an underlying long-term depressive illness or recurrent disabling effect. On autism, the tribunal noted that there was no formal diagnosis and that the claimant had not yet been assessed, so there was insufficient evidence of the level of difficulty or the effect on day-to-day activities.

Taking the conditions separately and cumulatively, the tribunal held that the claimant had not demonstrated that he was disabled for the purposes of section 6 at the relevant time. It therefore dismissed the claim.