Landmark ruling to change face of Employment

Sunday, 17 February 2008

UK employment law specialists have said that the landmark legal case at the European Court of Justice is going to have massive implications on employers. Mhl Support is urging employers to learn from Sharon Coleman, who has won the initial stages of her case for constructive dismissal after the Advocate General agreed this month that she had suffered ‘discrimination by association’. Mrs Coleman is hoping that when the final ruling is made later this year, millions of carers will find their lives made easier. She gave birth to a disabled son in 2002. Her child has serious respiratory problems, including apnoeic attacks - an involuntary halt to breathing.  Mrs Coleman asked for flexible working arrangements as the primary carer. The court was told that her manager had commented that her child was always sick, and had accused her of trying to use his condition to get out of work. Mrs Coleman accepted voluntary redundancy from London legal firm Attridge Law, and began pursuing her case for constructive dismissal five months later. Poiares Maduro, the Advocate General, said that in his opinion a European law establishing equal treatment at work was relevant to those "closely associated with a disabled person". He said that directly targeting a person with a particular characteristic was not the only way of discriminating against him or her. He said: "One way of undermining the dignity and autonomy of people... is to target not them, but third persons who are closely associated with them. "A robust conception of equality entails that these subtler forms of discrimination should also be caught by anti-discrimination legislation." Marc Schroder, CEO of Mhl Support, said that if the EJC decides in Miss Coleman's favour, it will have major implications for the 6 million people who provide unpaid care in the UK. “Under the current legislation employees have a right to request flexible working if they are caring for a disabled child under the age of 18. The employer is only obliged to consider the request and the employee does not have an automatic right for it to be granted.,” he said. “A victory for Miss Coleman would place a duty on employees to make reasonable adjustments to an employee's working hours if they are caring for a disabled child. Failure to do so could result in an employee facing a disability claim, the awards for which are unlimited. In the meantime employers receiving any such requests should treat them sympathetically and take legal advice,” he advised.