ADHD tribunal claims are up 750% since 2020. Most start as a performance conversation a manager didn't know was dangerous.
I built and sold three companies on an ADHD brain. Now I train your managers to get the best from brains like mine, and coach your ADHD people to meet them halfway.
- At least 1 in 5 of your employees is neurodivergent. Most are undiagnosed.
- The Equality Act protects them anyway. No diagnosis required, and you cannot wait to be told.
- Claims are rising fast and cost £8,500 on average before any award.
- I train your managers, run monthly clinics for live situations, and coach your ADHD people. Start with a conversation or the free risk audit.
Neurodiversity is no longer a DE&I conversation. It is a management one.
The problem is not that neurodivergent employees can't perform. The problem is that most organisations were built around one type of brain. When the gap between how a brain works and what the workplace expects isn't managed well, it creates friction, attrition, grievances, and increasingly, legal claims.
The three misreads.
Most claims are not deliberate discrimination. They are an ADHD symptom, read as a character flaw, and then documented as one. I know these three from the inside.
Time blindness, labelled as disrespect
Disciplinaries for persistent lateness, without exploring the cognitive root, are exactly how cases begin.
Emotional dysregulation, labelled as aggression
Documenting "outbursts" without understanding the neurological mechanism is documenting a disability symptom, not a conduct issue.
Task initiation failure, labelled as laziness
A performance improvement plan for someone who can't initiate tasks, without understanding why, is both ineffective and legally exposed.
"Many cases arise not because of deliberate discrimination, but because businesses fail to recognise their legal obligations early enough."
The tribunal is the visible tip. It is not the biggest cost.
By the time a case reaches tribunal, the team has been absorbing the cost for months. Capable people leave, and replacing a senior hire costs six to twelve months' salary. Culture absorbs the dysfunction. Leadership time disappears into grievances. The risk surfaces again in due diligence.
And the timing is bad. As AI takes the routine work, divergent thinking is the part you can't automate. That is disproportionately where your neurodivergent people earn their keep.
You may be paying a tribunal-sized premium every year to suppress your most differentiated thinkers.
Regretted attrition, quiet underperformance and legal exposure, all from the same root cause: management practice designed for one kind of brain.
Policies aren't the answer.
A practical programme, not another policy.
Start with a room, go deep with your leaders, then keep managers supported month by month. Coaching for your ADHD people runs alongside, because everyone else trains one side of the relationship. We work both.
The keynote: "The £8,500 Mistake"
60 to 90 minutes, for a conference or an all-hands. Opens with the data, lands on the Three Misreads, ends with a commercial case for action. Not a DEI session. A risk management session.
Explore the keynote →The workshop: "The Human OS Audit"
Up to 10 leaders. Four modules: the legal landscape, the Three Misreads, the Audit tool, and individual action planning. Three months of monthly clinics included.
Explore the workshop →The Human OS Surgery: monthly manager clinics
A confidential peer space for managers to bring live situations. Anonymous case discussion, expert facilitation, continuous learning. Open cohort available for smaller organisations.
Explore the clinics →ADHD talent coaching
Group and 1:1 coaching for the ADHD people themselves. Self-advocacy, translating needs into requests a manager can use, meeting the organisation halfway.
Explore talent coaching →Everyone else trains one side of the relationship.
That is why the claims keep doubling. We work both sides: the managers, and the brains they manage.
I've sat in the chair your managers report to, on the wiring they're struggling to manage.
I am a former CEO with ADHD and an executive coach to founders and senior leaders. I ran companies for twenty years, hired and managed the "talented but chaotic" people, and was one of them the whole time without knowing it. I work at the intersection of cognitive difference and commercial performance.
The blunt answers.
Does an employee need a formal diagnosis to be protected?
No. If a condition has a substantial, long-term effect on day-to-day activities, the Equality Act protects them. You cannot wait to be told. The duty to make reasonable adjustments is already triggered.
What changed with the Employment Rights Act 2025?
The tribunal claim window doubled, from 3 to 6 months. From 2027, unfair dismissal becomes a day-one right, so every dismissal decision carries full legal weight from day one of employment.
Is this a DEI programme?
No. It is management education and risk management. What the law requires of management behaviour, how to manage neurodivergent brains well, and how to keep the performance those brains produce.
We already have a neurodiversity policy. Isn't that enough?
A policy doesn't change what a manager does in a 1:1 when someone is struggling, and it doesn't protect you at tribunal. Managers who make the right call in the moment do. That is a training problem, not a documentation problem.
Is this legal advice?
No. This programme provides management education, practical frameworks and facilitated peer learning. It does not constitute legal advice, and organisations facing specific employment law matters should seek independent legal counsel.
How do we start?
Book a 30-minute conversation, or take the free 10-minute risk audit first. The usual sequence is the keynote or the workshop first, then monthly clinics, with talent coaching alongside.
The ADHD Management Risk Audit
A free self-assessment for HR and People leaders. Score your management practice against the places claims actually start: briefing, deadlines, feedback and performance conversations.
- 21 questions, about ten minutes, scored as you go.
- Your full result on screen, free. No email required.
- Shows where your exposure is, not just that it exists, with one action per domain.
"Don't know" is always an answer, and it counts. Not knowing is a finding.