During a recent employment tribunal case, the Court rejected an employees discrimination claim that his colour blindness was a disability under the Equality Act 2010.
Bessell v Chief Constable of Dorset Police
Legal Background
Employees will qualify as disabled under the Equality Act 2010 if they have a physical or mental impairment that has a ‘substantial’ and ‘long-term’ adverse effect on their ability to undertake normal daily activities.
Facts of the Case
Mr Bessell suffered from red-green colour blindness and also had difficulty distinguishing between grey and pink. He brought a disability discrimination claim again Dorset Police but the claim could not proceed unless he could prove that he met the legal definition of disability in the Equality Act 2010 and that his impairment had a long-term and substantial effect on his normal day to day activities.
Mr Bessell argued that his condition affected normal day-to-day activities, such as difficulty with cooking, reading and interpreting documents/text and watching sport. He said that he could not tell by the colour whether or not meat or fish products are fresh and he also found forms with grey and pink sections and the colours on subway maps difficult to follow.
In addition he cannot distinguish between the brown and green balls in snooker, unless they are on their spots.
Decision
The Employment Tribunal pointed out that coping strategies meant that his colour blindness does not substantially affect these activities. He can use smell and texture to determine the freshness of food. They also concluded that there was “no reason to believe that Mr Bessell would take appreciably longer to get the hang of forms or maps than most people”. Commentary and captioning are normally available when watching sport.
They therefore concluded that Mr Bessell’s colour blindness does not have a “substantial and long term adverse effect on his ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities” and that it did not qualify as a disability under the Equality Act 2010 and his disability discrimination claim could not proceed.
Comment
This case serves as a reminder to employers that not all conditions will amount to disabilities and that employers should consider this when dealing with an employee with health or related issues. In all case expert advice (specialist, medical, legal) should be taken to determine whether an employee is disabled and benefits from additional legal protection.
For more information on disability discrimination claims, please contact us on 0800 024 1976 or via our online form and a member of our Employment Law team will be happy to discuss your situation.