This was a case involving the national vision requirements for police officers who carry Tasers. The parties were agreed that the Claimant suffered from a physical impairment for the purposes of s.6(1)(a) of the GB Equality Act, namely Deuteranopia. That impairment involved the claimant having difficulty seeing green light and made it difficult to distinguish many colours. He was, colloquially, considered to be ‘Red Green Colour Blind’.

The dispute in the case arose as to whether the impairment had a “substantial and long term adverse effect on [the Claimant’s] ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities” and the focus of the disagreement was on the substance of the effect. The Claimant relied on his difficulties with the day-to-day activities of i) cooking ii) reading/interpreting documents/text and iii) watching sport.

Having considered these, the Tribunal held that the impairment did not create a substantial adverse effect. Whilst the Tribunal accepted the real challenges faced, it did not consider there was sufficient evidence to suggest they arose sufficiently frequently and emphasis was placed on the coping mechanisms which the Claimant adopted which essentially negated the impact of the impairment. The Claimant was not considered ‘disabled’ and the claims were dismissed.

Practical Lessons

As well as considering statutory guidance on the meaning of ‘substantial adverse effect’, the Tribunal also looked closely at the relevance of the coping strategies adopted by the Claimant. The Tribunal recognised that if the strategy adopted could be reasonably expected of him, then it should look at the extent to which any adverse effect was removed as per Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police v Virdi UKEAT/0338/06/RN.

Employers must be aware of the relevance of coping strategies and that they come into play when considering whether an impairment has a substantial adverse effect on day-to-day activities. For example, the Claimant here was unable to tell whether meat or fish was fresh by its colour but he used smell, touch and other visual cues. Understanding an employee’s coping mechanism should be routine and may include consulting, recording any discussions and obtaining advice from Occupational Health, if necessary.
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/593be66640f0b63e0b000241/1400313_2016.Preliminary.Dismissal.pdf