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“Harassment is a form of discrimination”

A mother claimed in court that her employer had no right to call her lazy when she asked for time off to care for her disabled son, or to make other insulting comments about the two of them. Nor, she claimed, was the employer right in accusing her of attempting to manipulate her working conditions.

She argued that she had suffered discrimination by association with her son’s disability.

The European Court of Justice decided that anti-discrimination law would be undermined if someone in the mother’s position could not claim direct discrimination. Even though she is not herself disabled, “the fact remains that it is the disability which…is the ground for less favourable treatment,” ruled the court.

It also said that harassment was a form of discrimination and the legal protection from harassment was not limited to people who are themselves disabled.

The court ruled that European equal-treatment law applies to particular grounds for discrimination and not to particular types of people – such as those who are themselves disabled.

The court did accept, though, that parts of the law – such as those designed to make it easier for disabled people to integrate into the working environment – apply only to the disabled. The legislation would be meaningless if they did not.

As a result, employers do not have to change working hours or the workplace to accommodate the needs of employees who care for disabled people, as they do for people who are themselves disabled.

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