Is this Discrimination?

Stage 1 of 3 · Disability status (Equality Act 2010 s.6)

Have you been diagnosed with cancer, HIV or multiple sclerosis, or are you certified blind or partially sighted?

Schedule 1 of the Equality Act 2010 deems these conditions to be disabilities from the point of diagnosis. If yes, you are protected without needing to satisfy the substantial / long-term test.

How the triage works, and the law it is built on

UK disability Discrimination cases turn on two questions. First, are you a disabled person under the Equality Act 2010? Second, has the employer's conduct met the elements of one or more of the five statutory wrongs? This triage walks both, separately, then combines the answers into a per-form strength rating.

Stage 1: are you disabled under section 6?

Section 6 of the Equality Act 2010 protects you if you have a physical or mental impairment that has a substantial (more than minor or trivial) and long-term (12 months or more, or likely to recur) adverse effect on your ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. The legal test ignores any medication, treatment or coping strategies you use. Schedule 1 deems cancer, HIV, MS and certified sight impairment to be disabilities from diagnosis.

Stage 2: the five forms of disability Discrimination

Most real cases are not just one form in isolation. They are a tangle of two or three. The triage scores each independently so you can see which has the strongest legal elements behind it.

Direct Discrimination, section 13

Treating you less favourably than a real or hypothetical comparator without your disability would be treated, because of the disability. There is no business justification defence for direct disability Discrimination, except in narrow cases involving occupational requirements. Strength depends on causation, the comparator and documentary evidence linking treatment to disability.

Indirect Discrimination, section 19

A provision, criterion or practice (PCP) that applies to everyone but puts disabled people at a particular disadvantage. The employer must show the PCP is a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim. Strength depends on naming the PCP, showing group disadvantage and challenging the employer's justification.

Harassment, section 26

Unwanted conduct related to disability that violates your dignity, or creates an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment. Strength depends on whether the conduct was unwanted, related to disability, and reasonably had that effect on you taking your perception into account.

Victimisation, section 27

Detriment because you did, or might do, a protected act. Protected acts include raising a grievance about Discrimination, supporting a colleague's complaint, contacting ACAS, or alleging a breach of the Equality Act 2010. Strength depends on the protected act, the detriment, and the causal link between them.

Failure to make reasonable adjustments, sections 20 and 21

Where a PCP, physical feature or absence of an auxiliary aid puts you at a substantial disadvantage compared with non-disabled colleagues, the employer has a positive duty to take reasonable steps to remove that disadvantage. The duty is anticipatory and triggered as soon as the employer knows, or ought reasonably to know, you are disabled. Strength depends on knowledge, disadvantage and the failure to act.

From triage to action: informal, grievance, ACAS, tribunal

The recommended order is informal conversation in writing, internal grievance, ACAS Early Conciliation, then employment tribunal. ACAS Early Conciliation is the only mandatory step before lodging a tribunal claim. The standard time limit for a disability Discrimination claim is 3 months less 1 day from the act complained of, extended by the time spent in Early Conciliation, with a minimum 1 month grace period after the Early Conciliation certificate is issued.

For ongoing or repeated Discrimination, the clock usually runs from the last act in the series, not the first. If you are unsure whether a series of incidents counts as a continuing act, contact ACAS or a solicitor early, do not wait for clarity.