An Iceberg of a Judgment: Case C-38/24 Bervidi

In Bervidi the Court of Justice of the European Union held that an employee who provides care to their child with a disability is entitled to be protected from ‘indirect discrimination “by association” on grounds of disability’ and to benefit from a reasonable accommodation, under the Employment Equality Directive. These findings are the ‘tip of the iceberg’ of this judgment. This case note argues that the judgment did not simply extend the personal scope of Article 5 of the directive on reasonable accommodation to workers who associate (care for) a person with a disability, but regarded the reasonable accommodation duty as flowing from the duty not to indirectly discriminate (by association). The case note also explores various other implications of this case, arguing that there are many other elements of the judgment which are less visible, or ‘beneath the surface’, but nevertheless of significant importance.