Promoted to director? Your disclosure math just changed.

Chief Inspector Paterson had already climbed through several promotions at the Metropolitan Police. Dyslexia nearly stopped the next one. It happened at a Superintendent's assessment centre (Paterson v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis, EAT, 23 July 2007).

A tribunal first ruled that promotion exams don't count as day-to-day activities. That would have left his dyslexia unprotected at the exact moment it mattered most. The Employment Appeal Tribunal overturned it: assessments and exams are covered too.

That ruling still shapes the disclosure decision facing anyone moving up today. The right timing changes once a formal test sits between you and the next title. This article covers when to speak up, and when it's fine to wait.

Why the exposure fear is real, and why it doesn't shrink your protection

Moving up usually means more visible mistakes. Board papers, live negotiations, and presentations with no script all carry a bigger audience than before.

That fear is real, and the legal protection doesn't shrink to match it. The Equality Act 2010 and the Americans with Disabilities Act both apply at every grade. That includes the promotion process itself and the finished job.

Lloyds Banking Group learned this the expensive way. It paid over £470,000 after dismissing a dyslexic manager with 30 years' service. The dismissal followed something his dyslexia caused under pressure (Borg-Neal v Lloyds Banking Group, UKET 2202667/2022, remedy judgment 2024).

So what for you: seniority raises the size of the number if your employer gets this wrong. It doesn't lower the odds that you're protected.

What the Paterson ruling actually settled

Paterson was diagnosed with dyslexia in 2004, after two decades already spent in the force. The case is Paterson v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis, EAT, 2007.

One assessment placed him in the "mild dyslexia" category, and recommended 25% extra time for promotion tests. The first tribunal still ruled his day-to-day activities were unaffected, since he could write clearly under ordinary conditions.

The EAT disagreed. Exams and assessment centres count too, even though they aren't an everyday task. Later tribunals still cite this point when an employer argues that a formal test sits outside legal protection.

"Day-to-day activities" is the legal phrase tribunals use to decide whether a condition counts as a disability at all. Read narrowly, it misses anything that only comes up occasionally, like a promotion exam sat once every few years. Paterson closed that gap for good.

If your promotion route runs through a timed exam or panel assessment, act early. Put the adjustment request in writing before the date. The reasonable adjustments builder turns a specific barrier into a clear, written ask in a couple of minutes.

So what for you: a written request before the test date is the strongest position Paterson leaves you. Asking after a poor result is a much harder argument to win.

The US side: what Geisinger's $450,000 settlement adds

US ADA compensatory and punitive damages are capped by employer size. The range runs from $50,000 up to $300,000 combined (Civil Rights Act of 1991).

That cap doesn't cover everything an employer can lose. Geisinger Health paid $450,000 in February 2026 to settle an EEOC lawsuit (EEOC press release, February 2026). The claim said its rules blocked protected leave, and blocked staff from getting their old job back after leave.

The settlement also forces two years of policy changes, staff training, and reports back to the EEOC. None of that comes out of the damages cap.

So what for you: even where compensation is capped, the process rules aren't. A documented request still forces real consequences if your employer ignores it.

Internal promotion vs. external offer: a different clock

Section 60 of the Equality Act 2010 bans pre-offer disability questions in the UK. Section 12112(d) of the ADA does the same in the US. Both were written for hiring, not for internal promotion.

Moving up inside your own employer works differently. There's no formal offer stage where the question legally can't be asked. Your employer may already know informally, from years of working alongside you.

Informal knowledge is not the same as a written record. The duty to make adjustments still depends on what your employer can show it knew, and when.

Say your manager first mentions a director role in a hallway conversation, months before any formal process starts. That conversation is not disclosure, and a passing comment about slow reports is not an adjustment request. Your manager might remember it later anyway.

So what for you: don't assume years of working together already counts as disclosure. Put it in writing once, even if your manager has known for years.

Decide by test type, not by title

Two different situations call for two different answers. Treat them separately, rather than picking one rule for every promotion you'll ever go for.

If the promotion includes a timed exam, assessment centre, or panel test, the evidence points one way. Disclose before that date, and put the adjustment request in writing.

If it's a straightforward decision by your manager, with no formal test, you can reasonably wait. Write down the first specific difficulty the moment it appears in the new role. Don't wait months, until a review is already underway.

So what for you: the promotion process format should set your timing, not the job title.

Telling your new team is a separate decision

Disclosing to your employer is a legal question. Telling your own team is not; it's entirely your choice, and the two don't have to happen together.

Some directors disclose to model the adjustments they want their team to use openly. Others keep it to HR and their line manager only, and lead just as well. Both approaches are covered in dyslexia.vision's guide to managing a team with dyslexia.

So what for you: don't let the employer decision and the team decision block each other. You can settle the first without touching the second.

If you don't have a diagnosis yet

Some readers reach director level without ever being formally assessed, despite years of re-reading reports and rehearsing every meeting. That pattern doesn't need a label to be real.

You don't need a diagnosis to ask for an adjustment. ACAS confirmed this in January 2025. The duty to adjust starts once an employer knows, or ought reasonably to know, about the difficulty.

An assessment gives you a clearer, more specific case once a formal test is on the calendar. What a dyslexia assessment costs covers the price and the process in both the UK and US.

So what for you: a pending promotion exam is a good, practical reason to get assessed now. It isn't proof that you've been faking it this whole time.

The paper trail is worth more than the disclosure itself

Disclosure alone changes very little if nothing is written down afterward. Borg-Neal's tribunal and Paterson's tribunal both turned on what could be proven, not on whether the difficulty was real.

Write a short email after any adjustment conversation, confirming what was agreed. Keep a copy outside your work inbox, in case access changes with the new role.

The disclosure decision guide turns your specific situation into a clear recommendation in about two minutes. That beats a generic rule of thumb that may not fit your case.

So what for you: the decision to disclose matters less than the decision to write it down.