Caroline Gillian Gooding (7 March 1959 – 19 July 2014) was a British solicitor and activist for disabled people. She took up activism after having a stroke while in her early 20s. Gooding directed her efforts to publishing literature advocating a human rights-based approach to disability, advising, assisting and leading governmental disability commissions, and drafting government legislation to improve the status of disabled individuals, such as the

Disability Discrimination Act 1995 The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (c. 50) (informally, and hereafter, the DDA) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which has now been repealed and replaced by the Equality Act 2010, except in Northern Ireland where the Act ...

, the

Disability Discrimination Act 2005 The Disability Discrimination Act 2005 (c 13) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Section 20 - Short title, interpretation, commencement and extent The following orders have been made under section 20(3):The Disability Discrimina ...

and the

Equality Act 2010 The Equality Act 2010 is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom passed during the Brown ministry with the primary purpose of consolidating, updating and supplementing the numerous prior Acts and Regulations, that formed the basis of anti-d ...

. The Caroline Gooding Memorial Lecture is named after the activist.

Early life and education

Gooding was born in the Scottish city of

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

on 7 March 1959. She was the daughter of the general practitioner Keith Gooding and his wife Jessie (née Strange). At the age of two, Gooding and her family moved to London, and was educated at the

St Paul's Girls' School St Paul's Girls' School is an independent day school for girls, aged 11 to 18, located in Brook Green, Hammersmith, in West London, England. History St Paul's Girls' School was founded by the Worshipful Company of Mercers in 1904, using part o ...

. She graduated with a first in history and social and political science at the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

in 1982 and trained to be a solicitor at the

College of Law A law school (also known as a law centre or college of law) is an institution specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for becoming a lawyer within a given jurisdiction. Law degrees Argentina In Argentina, ...

in London, qualifying in 1986. Gooding joined a firm in Newcastle soon after. From 1990 to 1991, she undertook a master of laws degree at the

University of California, Berkeley, School of Law The University of California, Berkeley, School of Law (commonly known as Berkeley Law or UC Berkeley School of Law) is the law school of the University of California, Berkeley, a public research university in Berkeley, California. It is one of ...

with her thesis on the effect of the

Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 or ADA () is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination based on disability. It affords similar protections against discrimination to Americans with disabilities as the Civil Rights Act of 19 ...

Activism

A socialist, she took up activism for disability rights after having a stroke in her early 20s. Gooding worked for the

Royal Association for Disability and Rehabilitation Disability Rights UK (DR UK) is a UK pan-disability charity which was set up with the aim of representing the needs and expectations of disabled people in the UK. Disability Rights UK was formed as a result of several disability charities mergin ...

(now called Disability Rights UK). Gooding engaged with employers, unions and parliamentarians and all on the disability spectrum in an attempt to secure constitutional recognition and equal community rights. Her thesis at the University of California, Berkeley led to the publication of a book entitled ''Disabling Laws, Enabling Acts'' in 1994, which argued for a human rights-based approach to disability and introduced the disability discourse to a wider political platform. The following year, Gooding was instrumental in causing the passage of the

(DDA) and published ''Blackstone’s Guide to the DDA'' in 1996''.'' She subsequently worked with the

Government of the United Kingdom ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd , image = HM Government logo.svg , image_size = 220px , image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg , image_size2 = 180px , caption = Royal coat of arms of t ...

to produce the DDA's first statutory code of practice on employment provisions. It provided the legal system for standards to apply and earned her the reputation of "combining principle, realism and approachability to good effect." In 1997, Gooding co-established and directed the DDA Representation and Advice Project, which allocated cases to pro bono lawyers and provided disability law experts with an information exchange. She joined the

Disability Rights Commission The Disability Rights Commission (DRC) was established by the British Labour government in 1999. At that time, the DRC was the UK's third equality commission alongside the Commission for Racial Equality and the Equal Opportunities Commission. It ...

(DRC) as a special adviser in 2000. As it went into force, Gooding led the drafting of its statutory codes and campaigns to publicise the commission and encourage good practice. At the same time, she joined

Ken Livingstone Kenneth Robert Livingstone (born 17 June 1945) is an English politician who served as the Leader of the Greater London Council (GLC) from 1981 until the council was abolished in 1986, and as Mayor of London from the creation of the office i ...

's advisory cabinet as he was elected

mayor of London The mayor of London is the chief executive of the Greater London Authority. The role was created in 2000 after the 1998 Greater London Authority referendum, Greater London devolution referendum in 1998, and was the first Directly elected may ...

. Gooding worked towards achieving better equality in the public sector of London, and she was also active in causes in feminism, lesbian and stances against racism. Gooding assisted lawyers in the formation of the Disability Discrimination Act Representation and Advice Project and was its first director. In 2005, she co-edited a publication on European disability rights and worked with the Academic Network of European Disability Experts. That year, Gooding was instrumental in drafting the

and advocated public bodies to abide by a new obligation to promote equality within the disability spectrum. During this period, she continued to refer key legal cases to the DRC and disagreed with the Labour government's decision to disband it and subsume its functions into the

Equality and Human Rights Commission The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is a non-departmental public body in Great Britain, established by the Equality Act 2006 with effect from 1 October 2007. The Commission has responsibility for the promotion and enforcement of eq ...

. Nevertheless, it led to the next stage of Gooding's career as she assisted the commission in drafting statutory codes and provided guidance in passing the

. She was chairperson of the Trade Union Disability Alliance, was vice-chairman of the Discrimination Law Association, and was involved in the Business Disability Forum. In 2011, Gooding was employed part-time in the

Department for Work and Pensions , type = Department , seal = , logo = Department for Work and Pensions logo.svg , logo_width = 166px , formed = , preceding1 = , jurisdiction = Government of the United Kingdom , headquarters = Caxton House7th Floor6–12 Tothill Stree ...

on issues concerning data protection. She died of breast cancer on 19 July 2014. At the time of her death, Gooding was co-editing a book on the effect of equality commissions around the world.

Legacy

The Caroline Gooding Memorial Lecture was set-up by the University of Leeds School of Law in 2018 as a memorial to the activist and the first was delivered by the jurist and professor

Theresia Degener Theresia Degener (born 10 April 1961 in Altenberge, West Germany) is a jurist and professor of law at the Protestant University for Applied Sciences of the Rheinland-Westfalen-Lippe. Degener is well known for being an outspoken victim of the '' ...

to demonstrate a new concept of equality being leveraged to implement the

Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is an international human rights treaty of the United Nations intended to protect the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities. Parties to the convention are required to promote, ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gooding, Caroline 1959 births 2014 deaths 20th-century British women 21st-century British women Lawyers from Glasgow People educated at St Paul's Girls' School Alumni of the University of Cambridge Alumni of The University of Law UC Berkeley School of Law alumni British solicitors British women activists British disability rights activists