Disability harassment cannot be based just on an employee's assertion he was disabled

The EAT has held that a claimant cannot succeed in a claim of disability harassment where they have merely asserted that they have a disability, in this case dyslexia, They must be able to show that the condition satisfies the statutory definition of a long-term, physical or mental impairment that affects their ability to carry out normal day-to-day duties. The Claimant’s argument that it did not matter whether his employer accepted that he was disabled because it was sufficient that the action taken against him was related to the protected characteristic of disability, was rejected.

Further, the employer was not liable for victimisation as the result of the surveillance undertaken against the Claimant.