Disability

Under section 6 of the EA 10, a person has a disability if they have:

• a “physical or mental impairment” that has a “substantial and long-term adverse effect” on their ability to carry out “normal day-to-day activities”;

• a condition is “long-term” if it has lasted for 12 months, is likely to last at least 12 months, or for the rest of the affected person’s life;

• “substantial” means “more than minor or trivial” (section 212(1) EA 10). In other words, if something cannot be regarded as “trivial”, it will be substantial (Aderemi v London and South Eastern Railway Limited [2012] UKEAT/0316/12/KN).

To succeed in a claim, each part of the definition of disability must be satisfied.

In an important European Court ruling in 2013, Ring v Dansk almennyttigt Boligselskab [C-335/11 and C-337/11, the ECJ has confirmed that courts and tribunals must take greater account of the “social model” of disability when deciding whether someone is disabled. This model recognises the barriers caused by the environment and by people’s attitudes to disability.