Ms L McIntyre v Natalie and Martin Lightfoot — 2019

The claimant worked for the respondent as a store supervisor from 7 September 2009 until her dismissal on 16 April 2019. She presented claims of unfair dismissal and disability discrimination, but the hearing addressed the disability issue first, with the unfair dismissal claim left to be listed separately. The tribunal identified the relevant discrimination period as 24 October 2018 to 16 April 2019.

The tribunal accepted that the claimant had a mental impairment at the relevant time, relying on the occupational health evidence of Professor Ewan B Macdonald. It found that she had post-traumatic stress disorder with some agoraphobic symptoms. It also found that, from around 19 October 2018, the impairment had an adverse effect on normal day-to-day activities including sleeping, getting up in the morning, dressing, going outside, and appetite, and that the effect was substantial within the Equality Act meaning.

The claim failed on the long-term limb of the disability definition. The tribunal found that by the end of the relevant period the symptoms had lasted no more than six months, and that there was no evidential basis to conclude, at the relevant time, that the effects were likely to last at least 12 months. It relied on Professor Macdonald's January 2019 view that the claimant should be fit to return within one to two months, and to normal working within three months. On that basis, the claimant had not established that she was disabled within section 6 of the Equality Act 2010, so the disability discrimination claim was dismissed.