The Advocate-General agreed today that the carer Sharon Coleman suffered "discrimination by association". She had claimed that she was discriminated against and harassed because she had a disabled son.

Sharon Coleman claimed that her employer, London law firm Attridge Law, treated her less favourably than it did other parents of non-disabled children. Amongst other things, she was accused of being “lazy” when she needed to take time off to care for her child and threatened with disciplinary action.

Commenting on the case, Imelda Redmond, Chief Executive of Carers UK, said:

“This is a positive step towards true equality for carers. Too many carers face discrimination at work, yet they are the bedrock of our communities and society.”

“This landmark legal opinion means that employers will have to alter the way they treat carers in their workforce. There are currently 2.5 million carers who are in work, yet one in five gives up work to care, meaning that we are losing thousands of people from the workforce every year. Every employer will have to look at their recruitment and employment practices and make sure they are not discriminating against carers. At a time when we have a shortage of skilled workers, this makes good business sense.”

She continued:

“This is an important start, but we need to go further and ensure that carers are protected from discrimination in all aspects of their lives, not just employment. We think there should be a duty on public sector organisations to actively promote equality between carers and non-carers and that service providers should also be required to treat carers equally.”

“The Prime Minister will publish his National Carers Strategy later this year and we are lobbying for it to include carers in the new equalities legislation which will be introduced next year. How we help families care for elderly and disabled relatives will be one of the biggest challenges of the 21st Century and Government has an opportunity to get the right laws in place to deal with it.”

Read the background to the case more...

Ends.

For further information:

Carers UK Press Office T: 020 7922 7979 M. 07505 184262 or kate.groucutt@carersuk.org

Notes to editors

1. Spokespeople and case studies are available. Contact the numbers above.

2. Carers UK is the leading campaigning, policy and information organisation of and for carers. Carers UK continues to make a difference to carers' lives by: campaigning for a better deal for carers; informing carers of their rights and what help is available; training and advising professionals who work with carers; working across the UK through its membership and networks of branches and affiliates. For more information, visit www.carersuk.org or for advice on your caring situation call CarersLine on T. 0808 808 7777.

3. Sharon Coleman worked as a legal secretary for a South London law firm. In 2002 she had a child who suffered from a disability in the first years of his life. Following her return to work, she alleges that she was treated less favourably by her employer than other parents of (non-disabled) children were treated in the workplace. This alleged treatment included: not permitting her to return to her previous post, criticising her when she sought to take time off to care for her child, threats of disciplinary action over lateness, refusal of permission to work from home when her child had to have an operation, and harassive comments. Ms Coleman left the firm in March 2005 and brought a claim for constructive dismissal and disability discrimination. Her case was taken by the law firm Bates, Wells & Braithwaite. For more information, see: http://www.bwbllp.com/Updates/Detail.aspx?UpdateID=152&Location=1&ID=0

4. There are 4,439,786 working age carers in the UK, 2,510,034 of whom are in work (Source: Out of pocket: A survey of carers’ lost earnings, Carers UK 2007. Figures from 2001 Census).
   
5. The Government announced the New Deal for Carers – including a review of the Prime Minister’s National Strategy for Carers – on 21st February 2007 when Gordon Brown visited the home of carer Jill Pay. Since then the Department of Health and Carers UK have consulted carers online and at events around the country. For more information about Carers UK’s consultation events, visit  http://www.carersuk.org/Getinvolved/NationalCarersStrategy.
   
   More information about the New Deal for Carers and the Government’s consultation can be found here: http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Policyandguidance/SocialCare/Deliveringadultsocialcare/Carers/NewDealforCarers/index.htm