Skip navigation

Law Donut, Commercial law advice

lexel accreditation logo
FSA Logo

newsletter thumbnail
Subscribe to and view our newsletter

Associative Discrimination

2nd November 2009

An Employment Appeal Tribunal ruling today means all carers are now protected by anti-discrimination legislation in the workplace.

The decision is another important and far reaching development in the long running legal battle in the case of Coleman v Attridge Law.

Read the background to the case from July 2008.

Carer and employee Sharon Coleman took her employer, Attridge Law, to court alleging disability discrimination and constructive dismissal, which she believed occurred as a result of her caring responsibilities for her disabled son.

The European Court of Justice had previously outlawed associative discrimination in that the EU's anti-discrimination laws, which protect disabled people in the workplace, cover their carers as well. A British employment tribunal had referred the case to the European Court of Justice in 2007.

While public sector workers were able to rely on the European Equal Treatment Framework Directive immediately to protect their rights, private sector workers could not do so. Instead, they had to rely on the UK 's own domestic discrimination law- the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA), which did not seem to accommodate the ECJ's interpretation of the Framework Directive.

After the ECJ judgment the tribunal was persuaded words could be read into the Disability Discrimination Act to outlaw associative discrimination but that decision was not binding on other tribunals. Attridge Law appealed, on the basis that the tribunal had “distorted and rewritten” the DDA but the appeal was dismissed.

The decision finally puts an end to the long running dispute about whether all workers – whether private or public sector - are protected from direct discrimination or harassment because of an association they may possibly have with a disabled person.
 
This decision will benefit many thousands of carers as it will be binding and will have to be taken into account in legal cases from now on.

Employers are advised to check their HR policies in the light of this ruling to ensure their anti-harassment, anti-discrimination, equal opportunity and absence policies comply.


February 2012
Putting lawyers in touch with the youth of Oldham

Pearson Hinchliffe partner, Michael Pitt, takes over as 2012 Oldham Law Association President.

More
January 2012
Company and commercial law reforms to reduce red tape

Companies of all shapes and sizes have been asked for their views on how to tackle unnecessary bureaucracy in company and commercial law.

More
January 2012
Increase in unfair dismissal qualifying period will apply only to new employees

From 6 April 2012 the qualifying period of service for making a claim increases from one to two years.

More
January 2012
Maximum compensation for unfair dismissal increases from 1 February 2012

Annual revision of employment tribunal award limits and other amounts payable under employment legislation.

More
December 2011
Health and safety laws to be cut by half

Government plans to slash health and safety red tape will mean substantial savings for small firms, business groups have said.

More
November 2011
Weight Watchers case: the importance to employers of employment status.

The Upper Tier Tribunal holds 1,700 ‘leaders’ at Weight Watchers were employees for tax purposes.

More
September 2011

How to Conduct a Disciplinary Hearing

A recent presentation by Employment solicitor, Susan Mayall, setting out the stages for handling a disciplinary, referencing the ACAS Code of Conduct.

June 2011

ACAS Advice leaflet “Holidays and Holiday Pay”

Download the guidance covering arrangements for holidays and holiday pay.

October 2010

Recent Case Study: Commercial Landlord and Tenant - An Authorised Guarantee Agreement

Authorised Guarantee Agreements keep the original tenant on the hook in case a third party assignee defaults; they should be drafted with care.

July 2010

Recent Case Study: Doing Battle in the Boardroom

How Pearson Hinchliffe Commercial Law helped members of the Board of Directors achieve the outcome they sought in their boardroom dispute with a senior executive director.

May 2010

How the Mergers & Acquisitions team helped Lanes Group PLC achieve their LAS sell-off

Drainage specialists dispose £12.3 million majority stake in Lanes Assistance Services.

March 2010

PH Employment Direct

The Employment team at Pearson Hinchliffe Commercial Law have created PH Employment Direct - a user-friendly and simple service that gives you access to the best advice at the end of a phone 24hrs a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

February 2010

Oldham Construction Sector

On 3 February 2010 Corporate Commercial partner Roger Hinchliffe delivered a presentation entitled, ‘Joint Ventures’ to the Oldham Construction Sector group.

January 2010

Debt Recovery Service

With our specialist commercial Debt Recovery service you can significantly increase the speed and likelihood of recovering the money owed to your business.