Employment Special - November 2009: Associated Discrimination
Associated Discrimination
The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) decided last Friday that disability discrimination does not just apply to employees who are themselves disabled, but also applies if an employee is prejudiced or harassed because of the disability of another person (“associated discrimination”).
In the case of Attridge Law v Coleman the claimant’s son was disabled and required specialised care. The claimant was his principal carer. The incidents of direct discrimination and harassment included:-
- on the claimant’s return from maternity leave, the employer refused to allow her to return to her existing job, in circumstances where the parents of non-disabled children would have been allowed to take up their former posts;
- the employer refused to allow the claimant the same flexibility in respect of her working hours and conditions compared to the claimant’s colleagues who were parents of non-disabled children;
- the claimant was described as “lazy” when she requested time off to care for her child and was accused of using her child to manipulate her working conditions, whereas parents of non-disabled children were allowed time off;
- abusive and insulting comments were made about both the claimant and her child; and
- the claimant having occasionally arrived late at the office because of problems related to her son’s condition, was told that she would be dismissed if she came to work late again. No such threat was made in the case of other employees with non-disabled children who were late for similar reasons.
Practical Implications:-
Going forward, employees will be able to raise a claim in an employment tribunal alleging that they have been directly discriminated against and/or harassed because of the disability of another person.
However, in addition, the EU Directive applies to discrimination and harassment on the grounds of religion or belief, age or sexual orientation. This decision also opens the door for claims of associated discrimination in relation to these grounds. For example, if an employee is directly discriminated against and/or harassed because of the religious beliefs of his/her spouse.
Watch this space!
If you have any queries then please contact Liam Entwistle at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Wright, Johnston & Mackenzie LLP
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