Mr Creaney v – solicitor Midland Steel Reinforcement and 1 other — 2022

On a preliminary issue heard by Employment Judge S Cowen, the tribunal decided whether Mr Creaney was a disabled person within section 6 of the Equality Act 2010 during the relevant period of 2 July 2019 to 28 October 2019. The hearing was limited to disability status and did not determine the merits of the underlying disability discrimination, unfair dismissal or other payments claims.

The tribunal accepted that the claimant had experienced fatigue and breathing difficulties from 2017, that his condition worsened during 2018 and 2019, and that by the relevant period he had difficulty with walking long distances or uphill, gardening, household chores, showering and shaving, and walking his dog. It found that he adjusted his work and home activities because of those symptoms, and it preferred the claimant's account, supported by his wife and medical records, to the respondent's suggestion that he was exaggerating his condition.

Applying section 6 of the Equality Act 2010, the statutory guidance, and the authorities cited in the reasons, the tribunal found that the claimant had an impairment with a substantial adverse effect on normal day-to-day activities. Although the relevant period itself was only four months, the tribunal held that the effect was likely to last more than 12 months because the symptoms had been increasing since mid-2018 and the diagnosis recorded at the time was COPD, which was described as a lifelong condition. The tribunal therefore held that Mr Creaney was disabled for Equality Act purposes, and noted that the findings were limited to disability status and would not bind a future tribunal on issues such as knowledge.