Mrs S v Represented by:-15 Mr S - Husband T — 2019

This was a preliminary hearing on disability status and knowledge. The tribunal found that the claimant was disabled at the relevant time within section 6 of the Equality Act 2010, accepting that she had physical impairments including hypothyroidism and fibromyalgia and that, taken together and with treatment taken into account, their effects were substantial and long-term. In reaching that conclusion the judge referred to the statutory definition, Schedule 1, and the authorities discussed in the reasons, including Walker v Sita Information Networking Computing Ltd and Nissa v Waverley Education Foundation Ltd.

The tribunal reviewed the medical and workplace evidence in detail. It accepted that the claimant had a history of symptoms from around 2014, that hypothyroidism had been confirmed and treated, and that fibromyalgia was diagnosed by about mid-2017. It accepted evidence of fatigue, pain, stiffness, photophobia, and the need to pace activities, and it treated the effects as more than trivial when assessed in context. The judge also noted that some material relied on by the claimant was incomplete or of limited value, including parts of the medical record and a later occupational health report, but still concluded that the disability threshold was met.

The claims of discrimination arising from disability and failure to make reasonable adjustments were dismissed because the tribunal found that the respondents did not know, and could not reasonably have been expected to know, that the claimant was disabled. The judge found that the claimant had referred to separate health problems over time, but had not disclosed the overarching diagnosis to the respondents, and had often declined to provide fuller medical detail when asked. The tribunal also found that the Access to Work material, social emails, and the claimant's work correspondence did not give the respondents actual or constructive knowledge of disability. The judgment further said that any direct discrimination theory would fail for the same reason, while any indirect discrimination issue was not affected by the knowledge finding.