Gillian Quinn was Head of People at Sense Scotland from December 2019. She was dismissed in July 2021.
Mrs Quinn tested positive for COVID-19 in July 2021. She experienced fatigue, shortness of breath, headaches, pain and discomfort, and felt less mentally alert. Her symptoms negatively affected her everyday life and disrupted her sleep. She struggled with activities such as shopping and driving. She no longer exercised or socialised.
In August 2021, Mrs Quinn was advised by her GP that she might have Post-COVID-19 Syndrome (long COVID). She was diagnosed with long COVID in September 2021.
Mrs Quinn brought Employment Tribunal claims against Sense Scotland, including for disability discrimination on the basis that she had long COVID.
The Employment Tribunal needed to decide if Mrs Quinn was disabled at the time of her dismissal. To be a disability, the effect of Mrs Quinn’s COVID would have needed to have been likely to last or recur for at least 12 months.
The Tribunal noted that Mrs Quinn was not diagnosed with long COVID until around six weeks after her dismissal.
In turn, “the substantial majority of people who contract [COVID] do not go on to develop [long COVID] and do not suffer from it for more than a year”.
So, since at the time of Mrs Quinn’s dismissal her COVID “had not lasted for 12 months and was not likely to”, her disability discrimination claim was dismissed.
Find out more about the decision here.
