Woman wins round in disability case

A care nurse helps a pensioner during lunch in a residential home for the elderly December 7, 2007.

LONDON (Reuters) - The mother of a disabled son won the latest round in a legal battle on Thursday that could bring new employment rights for millions of carers in Britain.

Sharon Coleman says she was forced to resign as a legal secretary at a London law firm in 2005 after not being given the same flexibility as other staff with non-disabled children

She says she was called "lazy" when she needed to take time off to care for her son and was threatened with disciplinary action.

Her case for constructive dismissal was referred to the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg by the Employment Tribunal in London, which asked for a ruling on the protection offered by equality laws.

The European court was asked whether the existing legal ban on discrimination at work only protects disabled workers, or whether it also covers employees who care for a disabled relative.

On Thursday, the court said its advocate had decided that the protection offered by work discrimination laws did indeed extend to those associated with a disabled person.

The advocate's opinion will now be considered by the court's judges who will deliver their final judgement at a later date.

Coleman told BBC television she was "absolutely ecstatic" at the development.

She said she could have continued at work if her employers had been more compassionate.

"Having a disabled child is a stressful thing anyway. To get that level of stress at work, it was just so bad."

The Equality and Human Rights Commission, which is supporting Coleman's case, said the case would have "huge implications" for carers.

"People want to work and need to work and should not be forced to choose between their jobs and their loved ones," said the commission's legal director John Wadham.

"This landmark legal opinion means that employers will have to alter the way they treat carers in their workforce," said Imelda Redmond, chief executive of campaign group Carers UK.

There are nearly 4.5 million carers of working age in Britain, of whom 2.5 million are in employment, Carers UK said.

(Reporting by Tim Castle; Editing by Steve Addison)