Date 1 September 2008
A landmark decision by the European Court of Justice has potentially extended the protection of discrimination legislation to persons that are not disabled themselves, but suffer discrimination or harassment owing to their association with a disabled person.
The decision of Coleman v Attridge Law focused only on discrimination and harassment on the grounds of disability. However, it was indicated that this decision may not be restricted to disability, but will also apply to other grounds of discrimination such as sexual orientation, age and religion or belief.
Coleman v Attridge Law
Mrs Coleman did not suffer from a disability but was the primary carer for her disabled son. When she requested time off in order to care for him, her employer accused her of being "lazy" and trying to manipulate her working conditions.
Mrs Coleman brought claims for direct discrimination and harassment on the grounds of disability. However the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 ("DDA") does not expressly provide the right not to be discriminated against by association. Her case was therefore referred to the European Court of Justice for an interpretation of the Equal Treatment Framework Directive ("the Directive"), which the DDA 1995 seeks to implement in the UK.
It was held that she could seek protection under the Directive. The aim of the Directive is to combat discrimination on certain grounds. It was held that it would be contrary to this aim if a person could not seek redress when they had been discriminated against on one of these grounds, but the ground did not specifically relate to them.
The above conflict between the Directive and DDA 1995 will mean that the DDA 1995 will most likely need to be amended to offer the same protection. Employers will need to ensure their policies are updated and staff are made aware of the potential to discriminate against someone not only on a ground related to that person, but also someone that they may be associated with. An example of this could be an employee who is not gay themselves, but because they have a gay friend or relative, suffer discrimination or harassment, such as name calling or less favourable treatment. It will be left to the legislation drafting to decide how wide the definition of "associated" will be.
For further information about any of the topics covered in this edition of Stay Alert, please contact Nikki Petken on 01727 798000 or by email at nikki.petken@salaw.com.
© SA Law 2008
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