Workers can sue for stress without formal diagnosis, judge rules

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Employees who suffer from work-related stress can sue their employers for disability discrimination, even if they have not been diagnosed with a mental illness, an employment judge has suggested.

The ruling came after an NHS worker, who is in the process of suing her employer for discrimination, was found to be disabled at an employment tribunal even though she did not have a formal diagnosis.

Workers can sue for stress

A hearing was held to decide whether Mrs. Phillips could be considered disabled under the Equality Act 2010. If she was not found the be disabled, she would not have been able to proceed with the disability discrimination claim against her employer, Aneurin Bevan University Health Board, which covers Gwent for NHS Wales.

The Equality Act states that a disability is a physical or mental impairment that has a substantial and long-term effect on their ability to carry out daily activities. For an impairment to be considered long term, it must have lasted, or is likely to last, at least 12 months.

But although Mrs. Phillips did not have a formal diagnosis, Judge Robert Vernon said that he was “persuaded” Phillips had established that she had a disability “for the purposes of the Equality Act 2010”. Vernon found that Phillips had “clear” medical records showing she was stressed from February 2021 until November last year.

He wrote: “There are also entries within her medical records revealing that on several occasions throughout that period, fit notes have been issued by the doctor indicating that she is unfit for work as a result of work-related stress.”

The judge said the impact of work-related stress on Phillips’s life was “significant”.

“She has described being unable at times to leave the house, she has described being unable to socialise with others, she has indicated that on numerous occasions her sleep has been affected as has her ability to concentrate. They are all effects on her ability to carry out day-to-day activities which are adverse and which are substantial,” he added.

In finding that Phillips could be considered disabled, Vernon said: “The symptoms were obviously sufficiently significant for her to be signed as being unfit for work as a result of stress at work. I also place significant weight upon the evidence which Mrs. Phillips has given me, which I found to be compelling evidence, as to the impact that this condition has had upon her.”

A formal diagnosis of a mental illness was not required for the tribunal to be satisfied that Phillips was suffering from a mental impairment, the judge said.

The judge said that Mrs. Phillips has suffered “substantial” effects for a prolonged period of time and for more than 12 months, and the issue of impairment must be seen in that context/

He added: “Even though there is no formal diagnosis of any medical condition I am satisfied that, given the other findings I have made, I can also make a finding that that is as a result of a mental impairment.”

Phillips’s disability discrimination claim will proceed to a full tribunal.

Workers can sue for stress without formal diagnosis, judge rules

Employees who suffer from work-related stress can sue their employers for disability discrimination, even if they have not been diagnosed with a mental illness, an employment judge has suggested.

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