Claimant v Scottish Fire and Rescue Service — 2022

At a preliminary hearing on 29 March 2022, Employment Judge S MacLean considered only whether the claimant was a disabled person for the purposes of section 6 of the Equality Act 2010 between 1 July 2019 and 26 June 2021. The claimant said that from around 2019 he developed stress following his father's death, family and marital difficulties, and the competing demands of his two jobs. He was referred to occupational health, saw his GP in October 2019, was prescribed medication to help him sleep, and later had counselling and further occupational health reviews.

The tribunal accepted that the claimant had symptoms of stress during the period, but it was not satisfied that those symptoms caused a substantial and long-term adverse effect on his ability to carry out normal day to day activities. It found that he continued to work in his primary employment, care for his son, exercise, shop, garden and otherwise manage daily life, with only limited periods of difficulty, particularly between October 2019 and March 2020. The tribunal also found that the evidence did not show the stress amounted to a mental impairment, and that the difficulties were linked to bereavement, family matters and competing demands on his time rather than a disabling condition.

The tribunal therefore held that the claimant was not a disabled person within section 6 Equality Act 2010 during the period in issue. No remedy was awarded because the judgment was confined to the preliminary disability question and the claimant failed on that issue.