Mrs F Nissa v Waverly Education Foundation Ltd [2019]

The claimant worked for the respondent as a science teacher. She suffered from a physical impairment, ultimately diagnosed as fibromyalgia, together with mental distress. She argued her condition had a substantial and long-term adverse effect on her ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. The tribunal had to determine whether the claimant’s impairment amounted to a disability for the purposes of the Equality Act 2010 (the DDA 1995 applies in Northern Ireland). The tribunal held that the claimant’s impairment could not be deemed ‘long-term,’ and even if it had, in the alternative, it failed to give rise to relevant substantial effect.

The claimant successfully appealed the