Discrimination and the law

The Disability Discrimination Act 

The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA) makes it unlawful to discriminate against those with a disability when providing services and for most employers when providing employment.

Here's an explanation of the DDA.

The definition
A person with a "disability" is defined in the DDA as someone with a physical or mental impairment that has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.

Mental Impairment
This includes any impairment resulting from or consisting of a mental illness. There is no requirement for the illness to be "clinically well-recognised" and so conditions that are therefore not regularly diagnosed by a doctor may be covered as well as the better-known illnesses such as anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.

Substantial
Means neither minor nor trivial

Long Term
Means that the effect of the impairment has lasted or is likely to last for at least 12 months, is likely to last for the rest of the person’s life or is recurrent.

Normal day-to-day activities
Includes everyday things like eating, washing, walking and going shopping and must affect one of the 'capacities' listed in the Act which include mobility, manual dexterity, physical co-ordination, continence, ability to lift, carry or otherwise move everyday objects, speech, hearing, eyesight, perception of the risk of physical danger, memory or ability to concentrate, learn or understand

Medication
If a person is being treated with medication to control or alleviate their impairment then the DDA specifically disregards this and the person is still treated as being disabled for the purposes of the DDA. 

Previous history
The DDA also applies to people who have a history of disability. For example, if a person suffered from an impairment some years ago and this is now being used to discriminate against them then they will have protection under the DDA. They do, however, have to have met the criteria for a "disability" (set out above) during the period that they suffered the particular impairment.

Under English law it is unlawful to discriminate against a person on the grounds that he or she is associated with a disabled person, for example where a carer needs to take time off work to look after a disabled person.

Our legal project, Time to Challenge, is looking for test cases around the DDA to take through the courts.  Find out more about what we're looking for and how you might help here.