Separate bouts of disability

Case 4: The facts

Mr Evans's employer raised concerns about his inability to work in a team and his relationship with his manager. He was dismissed on the grounds that he had "personality traits" leading to unacceptable behaviour at work. Evans had suffered two long periods of illness, each of 11 months; the first was diagnosed as "generalised anxiety disorder", the second as a "moderate or severe depressive episode". Both were mental impairments under the DDA.

A tribunal found that Evans had been unfairly dismissed for a reason related to his disability. His employer appealed the decision on a number of grounds, including that he did not have a past disability because he did not have a mental impairment that had lasted 12 months or more.

The ruling

The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) held that, although the two periods of illness had been diagnosed differently, both were mood-affective disorders and the symptoms were similar. Evans had therefore suffered from a disability.

It went on to find that Evans had been unfairly dismissed for a reason related to that disability. His difficulty in maintaining a good working relationship with others was an effect of his disability.

The EAT said that the disability need not be the sole or principal cause of dismissal in order for the dismissal to be for a reason connected with the disability. The employer had also failed to make reasonable adjustments by not offering Evans training.

The Environment Agency v Evans UKEAT/0834/03