Associated discrimination

Case 12: The facts

Ms Coleman resigned after her employer failed to grant her request for flexible working, although it had agreed to requests by parents of non-disabled children. She brought a disability discrimination claim on the grounds that, as the carer of a disabled person (her son), she should be protected by the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA).

The DDA only protects people who have a disability, but Coleman argued that the European employment directive (2000/78/EC), which the DDA implements in the UK, also protects people from discrimination on grounds that they are associated with someone who has a disability.

The ruling

The Employment Appeal Tribunal upheld the employment tribunal's decision to refer the issue to the European Court of Justice.

The court will decide whether the directive applies to individuals who are not themselves disabled - and, if so, whether less favourable treatment of an individual because s/he is a carer of a disabled son amounts to direct discrimination, and whether it amounts to harassment.

Attridge Law & another v Coleman EAT/0417/06