The claimant suffered from a variety symptoms which caused him significant difficulty in his daily life. None of these symptoms were attributable to a recognisable pathological or mental cause, and were instead regarded as functional overlay accentuated by his obesity. The genuineness of the symptoms and their effects were not challenged.

The EAT ruled that the ET had been wrong to conclude that, because no physical or mental cause could be identified, the claimant was did not have a disability within the meaning of the DDA. He should instead have considered the effect of the impairments stemming from the obesity, not their cause: "...what a Tribunal must concentrate on in considering whether an individual is disabled is whether he has a physical or mental impairment. Plainly in this case the Claimant did. Whether one regards the label as physical or mental, both are satisfied. Chronic fatigue syndrome may mix the two; bowel and stomach problems, and knee problems, are physical; anxiety and depression are mental ...

In addition it was in evidence before the Tribunal Judge that the Claimant suffered from significant cognitive difficulties. On any view he was substantially impaired, had been for a long time and there could be no other conclusion..." Each case should be decided on its merits: "...though I do not accept that obesity renders a person disabled of itself, it may make it more likely that someone is disabled. Therefore on an evidential basis it may permit a Tribunal more readily to conclude that the individual before them does indeed suffer from an impairment or, for that matter, a condition such as diabetes, if that diabetes is such as to have a substantial effect upon normal day to day activities. It may also be relevant evidentially to ask whether the obesity might affect the length of time for which any impairment was to be suffered. Thus in the case of someone determined to lose weight, in respect of whom it could confidently be predicted that they would reduce their weight to normal levels well within a year, with the consequent result that they no longer suffered from impairments which could confidently be ascribed to the weight itself, this could have the result that there was no disability for those impairments would not last for over 12 months." http://bit.ly/Y4IDR2