Julie Evans v Eddie Stobart Limited — 2025

This was a preliminary hearing in a disability discrimination case brought by Julie Evans against Eddie Stobart Limited. The issue decided was whether the claimant was a disabled person within the meaning of the Equality Act 2010 during the material period, broadly May to August 2024. The tribunal accepted the claimant's evidence in full and relied on her disability impact statement, cross-examination, medical records and an occupational health report obtained by the respondent.

The tribunal found that the claimant had suffered substantial adverse effects on normal day-to-day activities continuously since at least mid-2019. The effects identified included mood swings affecting relationships, brain fog and memory problems, hot flushes, disturbed sleep, daytime tiredness, and joint pain. It found that the tiredness and sleep disturbance could leave her confined to bed on occasion and unable to carry out basic tasks such as personal hygiene and dressing.

The tribunal held that the claimant's menopause was a physical impairment and that the condition was long term because the effects had not ceased and were liable to recur, even where HRT sometimes alleviated symptoms. It rejected the respondent's submission that the claimant had stopped suffering adverse effects from menopause at the beginning of 2023 and had instead developed a new unrelated hormonal imbalance in June 2024. The tribunal therefore found that the claimant was at all material times a disabled person within the meaning of the Equality Act 2010. No remedy was determined at this preliminary stage.