The meaning of disability in the Framework Directive
Chacon Navas C-13/05 11 July 2006
Facts:
Ms Navas worked in catering company and was certified unable to work on grounds of sickness and did not work for 8 months.
She was then dismissed without reasons and brought a claim of unlawful disability discrimination.
Findings of the court:
The concept of disability must be given an “autonomous and uniform interpretation”.
It refers to “a limitation which results in particular from physical, mental or psychological impairments and which hinders the participation of the person concerned in professional life.” The limitation must also be probable to “last for a long time”.
The terms disability and sickness are not the same. As a result a person dismissed for reasons of sickness alone does not have protection on grounds of having a disability.
Implications:
The approach to the meaning of disability used a medical rather than a social model of disability. In other words it focused on the physical impairments of the disabled person without consideration of the social barriers in society. This is not consistent with the approach under the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities but at that time the latter it was not yet in force internationally.
There is a definition of disability under the CRPD which is wide and broader than the approach taken in the Chacon Navas case. Article 1 provides:
The definition contains both reference to the physical or mental impairments of the person, and the social barriers that effect the participation of disabled persons in society.
See also the case study on Ring C-335/11 and Werge C-337/11 regarding the meaning of disability.