Spence v West Lothian Council — 2022

The tribunal considered whether the claimant was disabled during the agreed relevant period from 27 November 2017 to 24 September 2020. The claimant relied on the physical impairment of labyrinthitis. The tribunal found that he had acute episodes before the relevant period, including in April and August 2017, but no acute episodes of labyrinthitis during the relevant period, although he had two single-day self-declared absences for labyrinthitis or vertigo and intermittent short-lived dizziness.

The tribunal found that the intermittent dizziness since 2017 was generally momentary, mainly in the morning, and did not affect the claimant's ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. It also found there was no medical evidence that he had labyrinthitis as a permanent condition during the relevant period, and that the medical evidence made mild BPPV a more likely cause of the momentary dizziness.

For completeness, the tribunal accepted that intermittent momentary dizziness had recurred for at least 12 months and was likely to continue, but found that it had no substantial adverse effect on normal day-to-day activities. It also found no evidence that an acute episode was likely to recur during the relevant period. The tribunal therefore held that the claimant was not disabled under section 6 of the Equality Act 2010 during the relevant period and dismissed the disability discrimination claim.