Normal day-to-day activities

Case 10: The facts

David Booth became ill with work-related stress and depression, which he believed was caused by his employer's conduct after he raised a grievance, and was off work for more than a year. He was dismissed before he felt well enough to return to work, and brought claims of unfair dismissal and disability discrimination. The issue on appeal was whether or not he was disabled.

The employer accepted that Booth had a mental impairment, but argued that this did not have a substantial, long-term adverse effect on his ability to carry out day-to-day activities.

The ruling

The Employment Appeal Tribunal noted that the onus was on the claimant to prove that he had a disability. Booth said his condition affected his mobility and his ability to concentrate, but he had not provided adequate evidence that the effect on these areas of his day-to-day activities was substantial.

In addition, the medical evidence only recorded any adverse effects of his condition as lasting for 10 months, even though he was off work with the condition for over a year. Booth had therefore failed to establish that he was disabled under the DDA.

Booth v Oldham MBC UKEAT/0007/04