Halder v , In person Ian Gray — 2026

At an open preliminary hearing, the Tribunal determined whether Pallabi Halder was disabled by reason of stress, anxiety and insomnia between 31 May and 25 July 2025. The Tribunal noted that disability discrimination had not been mentioned in the claim form, that the acts relied upon were unclear and that an application to amend might require later determination. The parties nevertheless agreed that disability status could be decided. The merits of the noted race and disability discrimination complaints were not determined.

The Tribunal accepted that the claimant experienced stress during the relevant period. It found that she was not receiving medication or treatment for her mental health, regularly attended work and had only a few days of sickness absence. It considered it unlikely that she experienced anxiety, insomnia, panic attacks or a public-transport phobia during that period, noting when those matters were first reported to her GP and that she regularly commuted to work by bus. It also did not accept that stress had caused the asserted effects on social activity, shopping or food preparation during the relevant period.

Applying section 6 of the Equality Act, the Tribunal found that the claimant was not suffering from a mental impairment and that one could not reasonably be inferred from adverse effects on daily activities. Although she was experiencing stress, it did not have a substantial adverse effect on her normal day-to-day activities during the relevant period; any substantial effects arose later.

The Tribunal also found no reasonable basis, judged at the relevant time, for concluding that any effect could well last for at least 12 months, given its short duration and limited effect. It therefore concluded that the stress had neither a substantially adverse nor a long-term effect on normal day-to-day activities and that the claimant was not disabled by reason of her mental health at the relevant time. No remedy was determined at this preliminary hearing.