Ms Natasha Saini v Represented by:10 Mr T Merck - Counsel [Instructed by Morrish Solicitors] Community Infosource — 2023

The tribunal heard evidence only from Ms Natasha Saini at a CVP hearing in Glasgow on 7 December 2023. She had been formally diagnosed with ADHD in May 2022, with a further confirmatory diagnosis in September 2022, and the tribunal accepted her evidence that the symptoms had been present throughout her life and would continue for the rest of it. The tribunal found her to be a reliable and credible witness and noted that the respondent led no evidence contradicting her account.

Applying s6 Equality Act 2010 and the authorities it cited, including Goodwin v Patent Office and J v DLA Piper UK LLP, the tribunal found that ADHD was a mental impairment with long-term effects and that it had a substantial adverse effect on day-to-day activities. It accepted that Ms Saini had significant difficulties with focus and concentration, hyper-focus, time perception, memory, shopping in busy places, sleeping, eating and drinking, and timekeeping, and held that these effects were regular features of daily life rather than one-off incidents. The tribunal therefore decided that she was a disabled person within s6 of the Equality Act 2010. This judgment determined only that preliminary disability issue and did not decide the underlying discrimination or dismissal claims.