An aircraft engineer has won the first stage of his employment tribunal after his former employer refused to acknowledge that his dyslexia was a disability.

The engineer, named as Mr Dolan, enrolled on a training course last year run by Prestwick Aircraft Management Ltd, which maintains planes operated by budget airline Ryanair.

He told a preliminary tribunal hearing that he was diagnosed with dyslexia in primary school and had got through school and a BSC in aircraft engineering using a range of coping mechanisms including reading aloud and using his mobile phone to take notes while sitting exams.

The tribunal was shown a report about Mr Dolan by a dyslexia specialist from 2019 which refers to "substantial weakness in cognitive processing, very slow reading and handwriting speed and weak long term memory".

The trainee was sent a health questionnaire ahead of starting the course which did not mention dyslexia and Andrew Hood, his training manager, was not told by HR that he had the condition. 

However, prior to his first exam he told Mr Hood that he was nervous as he was dyslexic. 

He requested that the exam be printed in red but this was not done as it was requested at short notice. Mr Hood told the tribunal that the trainee was offered extra time if he needed it but turned it down.

Where online tests were taken at work, the trainee said he had gained some assistance from others in his class.

Some of the exams he sat were ‘open book’ and he "candidly" told the tribunal that he also was given assistance by some of the instructors.

After week four of the course the company stopped him from using his phone, which led to a gradual reduction in the coping mechanisms which he was allowed to use.

He was able to pass all the required tests until approximately week eight of the course.

He was told by Mr Hood that talking aloud was a problem "in the live maintenance environment".

The training manager argued that because he had been able to achieve good results [in his previous tests] his dyslexia "was not holding him back".

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The company said therefore that his dyslexia did not meet the requirement of a "substantial" impairment and did not amount to a disability in equality laws.

According to the tribunal papers Mr Hood suggested that "a dyslexic who is able to succeed in a high functioning job, such as a lawyer or doctor, does not have a disability under s.6 Equality Act 2010".

However, the tribunal said the condition had affected his ability to read and process written materials, particularly at speed and in quiet, exam conditions.

He also struggled to take notes of lectures and instructions which were given to him.

The tribunal said: "All of these amount to day to day activities which most people do regularly as part of their normal lives.

"Given that when the respondent removed some of the claimant’s coping mechanisms he was not as capable of keeping up with the course or carrying out the tasks he had been given, it appears to be self evident that the effect of the dyslexia was significant.

"The requirement by the claimant to read aloud to himself or talk to himself to follow directions is not a common position amongst the general population.

"Without this, the claimant struggled to absorb the information or follow the instruction.

"The affect of the dyslexia was substantial."

A further hearing will take place to determine if Mr Dolan was discriminated against on the grounds of his disability.