An employment tribunal ruling has paved the way for a wave of ‘discrimination by association’ claims from Britain’s estimated 2.5 million carers.

The case relates to Sharon Coleman’s claims that, although not disabled herself, she suffered disability discrimination as a result of her son’s disability, a situation known as discrimination by association. Coleman alleges that she was treated less favourably than parents of non-disabled children and was denied the flexibility to care for her son.

At tribunal the case has now been approved to proceed to trial, clarifying the consistency of the UK’s anti-disability discrimination law with the European Court of Justice’s interpretation and affirming that carers in the private sector should receive the same level of protection as those in the public sector.

"The principle that a person who is not part of the protected group may make a claim for discrimination is well established,” says Jonathan Mansfield of employment solicitors Thomas Mansfield. “An example is where a night club doorman is instructed not to admit people of a certain race and is dismissed for refusing this. Even though the employee is not of the race suffering the disadvantage the dismissal is ‘on racial grounds’.”

“The importance of the Coleman case is that a far wider group of people are likely to be brought into the ambit of the protection of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, as it is not uncommon for an employee to have a part-time caring role in connection with a disabled family member, while still holding down a job.”

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