A judgement by the Employment Appeal Tribunal has
introduced new rights into UK discrimination law, which will primarily benefit
carers of disabled people.

Ginny Hallam, Head of
employment at Midlands law firm Berryman, commented: “The judgement in the case
has an impact on the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) going forward. It now
expressly protects against discrimination against a non-disabled person on the
grounds of the disability of a person they are associated with, such as a
disabled child.

“Carers are already entitled
to limited time off work to deal with emergencies affecting those for whom they
have responsibility and have the right to apply for flexible working. Now it is
clear they can resort to the Disability Discrimination Act where they feel they
are treated less favourably than others or subjected to harassment for a reason
relating to the disability of the person they are caring for.”

The Employment Appeal
Tribunal (EAT) confirmed that the judgement is not limited to carers or even
those associated with a disabled person, as Ginny explains: “According to EAT,
the judgement covers direct discrimination or harassment of an employee based
on the disability of any third party, though it does not create any new rights
to reasonable adjustments.”

She adds: “All acts of
discrimination introduced on or after the 1st October 2004 are affected by this
decision by the EAT. The DDA should now be read as if new subsections have been
inserted to encompass this new concept of ‘associative discrimination’.