A Tale Of Two Disabilities

Stress at Work found to amount to a disability; and a potential tension between factors to be taken into account when determining disability.

In a recent first instance decision Mrs D Phillips v Aneurin Bevan University Local Health Board, the Cardiff Employment Tribunal considered two interesting aspects of disability discrimination:

1. the available guidance about how measures which can "ameliorate" (reduce or remove) the adverse effects of an impairment affect whether the impairment amounts to a disability for the purposes of the Equality Act 2010 ("the Act"); and
2. the potential for "stress at work" to amount to a mental impairment and, therefore, be a potential disability.