Woman with disabled son wins landmark discrimination battle that could give new rights to millions of carers

Sharon Coleman had taken a case of discrimination to the European Court of Justice and judges yesterday backed her case.

The opinion delivered by the EU's Luxembourg-based court promises to launch a revolution in British equality law by establishing a new category of people who suffer "discrimination by association".

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The judges were reviewing the case of Miss Coleman, a London legal secretary, who claimed she was forced to quit her job because of her disabled son.

Miss Coleman, 42, was employed by solicitors Attridge Law when she gave birth to her son Oliver in 2002. He suffers from serious respiratory problems.

She asked for flexible working arrangements but said she was denied them whereas other staff were granted their requests.

Miss Coleman claimed her manager used abusive language to complain that her son was always sick and had accused her of being lazy and of trying to use his condition to get out of work.

She said: "Other members of staff were taking time off for hospital appointments or worked from home but my requests were always turned down."

Miss Coleman, from Southwark in south London, accepted voluntary redundancy in March 2005 and began a claim for constructive dismissal. A tribunal directed the case to the Luxembourg court.

The legal opinion of the Luxembourg Advocate General said that EU equality law "protects people who, although not themselves disabled, suffer direct discrimination and/or harassment in the field of employment and occupation because they are associated with a disabled person."

It added: "Directly targeting a person who has a particular characteristic is not the only way of discriminating against him or her; there are also other, more subtle and less obvious ways of doing so."

"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."

The opinion of the court's Portuguese Advocate General Poiares Maduro is not binding when the Luxembourg judges come to a final decision on Miss Coleman's claims later this year but they follow his lead in four out of five cases.

The result would be that anyone treated badly by their boss when they need time to look after someone who is disabled should be able to claim compensation at a tribunal.

The Government's Equality and Human Rights Commission said that if the ruling is upheld by the full court, it will mean that the British Disability Discrimination Act and other equality laws will be taken in tribunals to apply to carers.

Its legal director John Wadham said: "This is a highly significant case, which we hope will make a real difference to the lives of six million carers."

But employers' groups warned that extending flexible working rights to those who care for disabled relatives risked spreading resentment among other workers, pushing up prices and putting pressure on businesses.

Stephen Alambritis, of the Federation of Small Businesses, said: "All time off work comes at a cost to customers and other employees."

Employment lawyer Ranjit Dhindsa, of international law firm Reed Smith Richards Butler said: "Through this case the idea of associated disability has been born. The big question is will this apply to all other types of discrimination, for example age, race or sex?"