Mr H Singh v Represented by: Mr G Bathgate - Solicitor The City Of Edinburgh Council — 2024

At this preliminary hearing, the tribunal decided only whether Mr Singh was a disabled person within section 6 of the Equality Act 2010 during the material period, July 2022 to June 2023. It accepted evidence that from about April 2019 to June 2023 he experienced anxiety, disrupted sleep, poor concentration, low mood and related effects that affected social interaction, reading, hobbies and time spent out of the house. The tribunal also accepted that he had been prescribed Sertraline, Propranolol and Amitriptyline and had attended wellbeing courses, and that the GP notes were brief summaries rather than a full record of every discussion.

The tribunal rejected the respondent's case that the symptoms were only a reaction to work-related stress and did not amount to a mental impairment. Applying the approach in Goodwin v Patent Office and the authorities cited on stress and impairment, including J v DLA Piper UK LLP and Herry v Dudley Metropolitan Council, it held that the evidence showed a mental impairment of some kind. It found the effects on day-to-day activities were substantial, meaning more than minor or trivial, and that they had lasted for more than 12 months by the start of the material period.

The tribunal therefore held that Mr Singh was a disabled person for the purposes of section 6 EA 2010 between the beginning of July 2022 and the end of June 2023. The judgment did not determine the merits of the underlying discrimination complaints under sections 13, 15 and 20, and a further preliminary hearing on case management was to be listed.