Cumulative effect of disability

Case 4: The facts

Simon Sharp had hepatitis C and suffered from increasing, but not constant, muscle pain and fatigue.

A tribunal found that his condition did not amount to a disability: his problems climbing stairs and riding his motorbike were not frequent or severe enough to amount to a substantial adverse effect. It also rejected Sharp’s example of being unable to lift a computer, as this was not a day-to-day activity.

The ruling

The Employment Appeal Tribunal upheld the tribunal’s decision: it had correctly considered the cumulative effect of Sharp’s disability, despite its conclusion that his evidence lacked credibility. It had also been entitled to find that Sharp had provided only vague evidence of when the effect of his condition began and so had been unable to establish whether it was long-term.

Sharp v Manpower(1) IBM (2) EATS/0002/05