EU court extends anti-discrimination protection
RENATA GOLDIROVA
18.07.2008 @ 09:20 CET
EU anti-discrimination rules are not limited to disabled people, but also protect those who provide care to a handicapped relative, the European Court of Justice ruled on Thursday (17 July).
The legal case was triggered by Sharon Coleman, the mother of a disabled son in the UK, who had lost her job after demanding flexible working arrangements because of her caring responsibilities.
The verdict extends the scope of EU anti-discrimination rules (Photo: European Commission)
Mrs Coleman also claimed she had faced "abusive and insulting comments" about her and her ill child.
"They wouldn't allow me to work flexibly to make it easier to look after him. Other members of staff were taking time off for hospital appointments or worked from home, but my requests were always turned down," she was cited as saying by the UK Daily Mail.
The Luxembourg-based court ruled that the former legal secretary in a law firm, Attridge Law, faced so-called discrimination by association - discriminatory treatment due to caring for a disabled dependent relative.
"An interpretation limiting its application only to people who are themselves disabled is liable to deprive the directive of an important element of its effectiveness," the court concluded.
The verdict means a significant breakthrough as, until now, only disabled people themselves have claimed discrimination on the grounds of disability.
Organisations campaigning for rights of the disabled have welcomed the ruling, with Ed Williams, a barrister at London law firm Cloisters, saying that millions of carers in the UK and the rest of the EU will now have greater protection against discrimination.
"Since the European directive covers many other areas of discrimination, this ruling clarifies that the protection against associative discrimination ought to apply to the areas of religion or belief, age and sexual orientation as well," Mr Williams was cited as saying by The Times.
At the same time, some employers say they will face a very difficult situation.
"There are real sensitivities - not to mention confidentiality and data protection issues - in asking for medical evidence of disability from someone with whom they have no employment relationship," Marian Bloodworth, an employment specialist at Lovells solicitors, told the Daily Telegraph.
