EMPLOYMENT TRIBUNALS (SCOTLAND) Case No: 8002009/2024 Held in Aberdeen on July 2025 Employment Judge J M Hendry B Tait v Offshore Helicopter Services UK Limited — 2025

This was a preliminary hearing in a case brought by Ms Tait against Offshore Helicopter Services UK Limited. She said she had been unfairly dismissed and discriminated against because of disability, but the issue for the tribunal at this stage was only whether she could rely on the deemed disability provisions in Schedule 1 paragraph 6 of the Equality Act 2010. The tribunal recorded that she had worked for the respondent from 6 May 2013 until 14 October 2024 and that, in September 2023, she was referred urgently for a skin lesion on her left forearm that had been suspected to be SCC or keratoacanthoma.

The tribunal reviewed the medical evidence, including the excision in November 2023 and the pathology report of 17 December 2023, which stated there was no evidence of dysplasia or malignancy. Mr Rahman later wrote that the lesion suggested a potential keratoacanthoma and that there was no feature suggestive of cancer, with no further treatment required. The tribunal accepted that the claimant was generally a credible and reliable witness, but concluded that she had not shown that she had cancer for the purposes of the deeming provision. It held that, even if the lesion was keratoacanthoma, the absence of detectible cancer cells or malignancy meant she did not come within the protection of the section.

The tribunal also rejected the claimant's argument that she could rely on perceived disability. It said that this was not her pleaded position and, in any event, was misconceived on the facts as presented. The judgment noted that some of the wider allegations about lack of support during the period of stress and anxiety might be relevant to the fairness of any dismissal, but that was a separate question from whether she was disabled under the Equality Act. The case was to proceed to a further preliminary hearing for case management purposes.