Under Reg.4(1)(b) of the Equality Act 2010 (Disability) Regulations 2010, a tendency to steal is a condition which is not treated as an impairment and therefore does not come within the statutory definition of disability. In Wood v Durham County Council, W suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and dissociative amnesia. W was issued with a Penalty Notice for Disorder (PND) by the police for leaving a shop with goods which he had no intention of paying for. W did not disclose this to the Council. When the Council found out about the PND, W was dismissed from his job as an anti-social behaviour officer. The EAT upheld an ET’s decision that a manifestation of W’s post-traumatic stress disorder and dissociative amnesia was a tendency to steal which was an excluded condition under the 2010 Regs. The ET was entitled to reject W’s contention that his behaviour was merely memory loss and forgetfulness and not dishonest because W pleaded his case on the basis that he has a tendency to do whatever the correct description is for what happened at the store, i.e. taking goods without paying for them. As the effective cause of W’s dismissal was the excluded condition, then the disability discrimination claim failed.

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