A tribunal has decided at a pre-hearing review in Coleman v Attridge Law that the 1995 Disability Discrimination Act can be interpreted so that people who are “associated” with a disabled person (as opposed to being disabled themselves) are protected from discrimination.
Mrs Coleman gave birth in 2002 to a disabled son who required specialist care. She claimed that when she came back from maternity leave, her employer was abusive towards her and refused her time off to care for her son. She lodged an employment tribunal claim for unfair constructive dismissal and for disability discrimination under the 1995 Disability Discrimination Act (DDA).
The European Court of Justice (weekly LELR 83) ruled that there was nothing in the Equal Treatment Directive to suggest that it was limited to only protecting people who themselves had a disability. As the whole point of the legislation was to combat all discrimination on the ground of disability, the principle of equal treatment therefore applied not to a particular category of person but to a general framework.
The case then came back to the tribunal to decide whether the DDA could be read in such a way as to give effect to the directive. It has now said that references to a disabled person in sections.3A(5), 3B and 4 of the DDA can be read as if they included the words 'or a person associated with a disabled person', without distorting the words of the statute.
The case will now go forward for a full hearing.
To read the full judgement, go to:
www.bwbllp.com/Files/Articles/Employment_Tribunal_Judgment.pdf