Is sleep apnoea covered by the Disability Discrimination Act 1995?
16 Jun
If a person suffers from sleep apnoea, would the definition of disabled according to the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 cover them?
Sleep apnoea is a genetic condition which basically prevents people from sleeping properly. The condition is like this. The sufferer has little muscle tone in the throat which leads to a collapse of the airway during sleep. The sufferer then stops breathing until the body's 'alarm' system kicks in and there is a sudden shock snore (the apnoea) and the sufferer has a micro arousal or even wakes up. I have this condition at a chronic level, 85 times an hour, so I am exhausted all day as I never really sleep properly at night – result – while working I am liable to simply go to sleep.
If you imagine working all day, going home and when you're just about to go to bed there is an emergency, and you end up staying (awake) in the accident and emergency unit at the local hospital, and you finally get to go home at 6 am, just in time to get ready for work. At 5pm that day, you feel sick with fatigue. That's me. That's how I feel everyday. For a few years.
I'm not aware that there has been a specific decision on this condition, but as with all conditions, it's a matter of fact and degree.
Two principal criteria:
1. Is it likely to persist for a year or more?
2. Does it have a substantial adverse affect on the sufferer and his/her ability to work?
If so, it may well come within the DDA.
Sleep aponea is usually a symptom of stress or anxiety.
Edit: At the level you are suffering from the condition, it undoubtedly comes within the DDA definition.
Out of curiosity, how would you prove discrimination against sleep apnea? Unless your job somehow relates to sleeping, the fact that you have apnea wouldn't effect your job. Is there something else going on here?
yes when i got the forms to fill in from my local office she said fill them in and get them back. i said i will sleep on it.