LRD guides and handbook May 2015

Law at Work 2015

Chapter 6

Conditions that can be corrected by medication or treatment

[ch 6: page 144]

The EA 10 (Schedule 1 Part 1 section 5(1)(b)) says that where effects of an impairment can be removed by using interventions, for example, drugs or a prosthetic limb, these should be disregarded when deciding whether the individual is disabled. There is an exception for ordinary spectacles and contact lenses.

In Metroline Travel Limited v Stoute [2015] UKEAT 0302/14/2601, the EAT confirmed that a particular diet could be a “treatment or correction” that must be ignored when assessing the effect of an impairment, but went on to rule that abstaining from sugary drinks to control Type 2 diabetes was not enough to qualify as a “treatment or correction” under the Act.