E.T. Z (WR) EMPLOYMENT TRIBUNALS (SCOTLAND) Case No: 4101358/2020 (V)5 Held remotely on January 2021 Employment Judge: W A Meiklejohn Mr D McGhee v Represented by: Mr C Howie – Solicitor Cornerstone Community Care — 2021

This was an open preliminary hearing held remotely on 11 January 2021 to determine disability status in the claimant's disability discrimination claim. The respondent accepted that the claimant had been diagnosed with autism/Asperger's syndrome, but disputed that the condition had a substantial adverse effect on normal day-to-day activities during the relevant employment period, 20 August 2019 to 11 November 2019.

The tribunal heard from the claimant and accepted his evidence as credible. It found that his impairment affected him through panic attacks and difficulties with shopping, conversation, making and sustaining friendships, socialising, concentrating on documents, reading, and using public transport. The judge treated these matters as adverse effects on normal day-to-day activities and noted that some were reflected in the Guidance on the definition of disability.

The tribunal also considered the effect of coping strategies and medication. It held that the threshold for "substantial" is "more than minor or trivial" and found the effects of the claimant's mental impairment to be substantial, both individually and cumulatively. Applying paragraph 5 of Schedule 1 Equality Act 2010, the tribunal accepted the claimant's evidence that without citalopram he would not be able to function.

The tribunal therefore found that the claimant was a disabled person within section 6 Equality Act 2010 at the relevant time. The judgment did not determine the underlying discrimination complaint, and it directed that the case should proceed to a further closed preliminary hearing for case management and for arranging the final hearing.