Ms M Hunter v North Lanarkshire Council — 2025

This was a substantive preliminary hearing limited to whether the claimant was a disabled person under section 6 of the Equality Act 2010 during the material period from 3 December 2023 to 1 November 2024. The claimant relied on ADHD combined type. The tribunal recorded that the underlying complaints included constructive unfair dismissal, discriminatory dismissal, and failure to make reasonable adjustments, but those merits issues were not determined at this hearing.

The tribunal found sufficient evidence that the claimant had a mental impairment. It relied on the 2022 ADHD diagnosis, later medical care which did not question that diagnosis, and the claimant's evidence about effects including poor memory and concentration, mistakes, anxiety, exhaustion, distraction, impulsiveness, and reliance on coping mechanisms and family support.

The tribunal found that the impairment adversely affected normal day-to-day activities, including conversations, household tasks, social activities, following instructions, preparing documents, and keeping to a timetable. It found the effects were substantial and long-term, noting that coping mechanisms and medication did not remove the underlying effects. The claimant was therefore found to be disabled for the whole material period, and her disability-based complaints were allowed to proceed to the listed full hearing.