Claimant v Yodel Delivery Network Ltd — 2021

This was an open preliminary hearing to decide whether the claimant was a disabled person under section 6 Equality Act 2010 and to consider the respondent's applications for strike out and/or deposit orders. The relevant period was March 2019 to 21 April 2020. The respondent accepted that the claimant had a long-term physical impairment, namely odema, but disputed whether it had a substantial adverse effect on normal day-to-day activities.

The Tribunal accepted the claimant's evidence that odema in his legs made walking increasingly difficult, that he rarely went out other than work, visits nearby family and involvement with a local football club, and that he used lifts, taxis or deliveries for ordinary activities such as shopping. It found that he could not walk one mile without considerable difficulty and that his ingrown toenail problems, although painful and exacerbating matters, were not relevant to the disability determination because difficulties continued after operations.

The Tribunal held that the claimant was disabled at all material times by virtue of odema in his legs. It refused the respondent's applications for strike out and deposit orders, finding that factual issues about absence, dismissal, procedure and the relationship between the claims required evidence at a final hearing. The unfair dismissal and disability discrimination claims were therefore permitted to proceed, with no merits determination at this preliminary stage.