A mother's bid for hundreds of thousands of dollars in compensation for the unpaid care of her disabled son has begun in the High Court in Auckland.
The Ministry of Health tried to stop Margaret Spencer from applying for back pay for caring for her 47-year-old son, who has Down syndrome.
It challenged her through the Human Rights Tribunal, the High Court and then the Court of Appeal; in every case the court ruled in Ms Spencer's favour.
Her hearing for compensation started in Auckland this morning.
Her lawyer, Jim Farmer, QC, opened the hearing by saying Ms Spencer had been consistently discriminated against by the Ministry of Health.