Disabled volunteer not protected by Disability Discrimination Act

A disabled volunteer worker at an advice bureau was not protected from acts of discrimination on grounds of disability under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, nor could she rely on the direct effect of Council Directive 2000/78/ EEC (“the Framework Directive”) to sustain an action for discrimination. Although voluntary posts such as that held by the claimant might assist the holder to gain a permanent paid post, that was not the purpose of having volunteer workers, most of whom had no wish to join the permanent staff. The volunteer post was not to be treated as a form of vocational training subject to article 3(1)(c) of the Framework Directive.