Cases on provision of services

A bakery in Northern Ireland refused to supply a cake iced with the message “support gay marriage” because of the religious beliefs of its owners. The Supreme Court held this was not discrimination by association because the objection was to the message, not to any particular person or persons. Supreme Court, 2018, www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKSC/2018/49.html Facts A … Read more Lee v Ashers Baking (‘gay cake’ case)

The claimant had ME/CFS, and also dystonia which affected her speech. She referred a complaint against a county council to the Local Government Ombudsman and requested support because of her and her husband’s disabilities, including one or more face-to-face meetings rather than just using email. The Ombudsman lost the request, and turned down subsequent requests … Read more Blamires v Local Government Ombudsman

A bus company had a policy that if a wheelchair user needed the wheelchair space, the driver would request other passengers to vacate it, but would not require them to. The Supreme Court held that the driver need not actually require the non-disabled passenger to move, but if after making a request the driver considers … Read more Paulley v First Group plc

The Court of Appeal dismissed a claim for reasonable adjustments by a deaf person whose house was searched by the police. He argued they should have brought a sign language interpreter. The Court of Appeal upheld the decision that in this particular case it had been possible to establish effective communication, so there was no … Read more Finnigan v Northumbria Police

Mental health patients (MHPs) claiming Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) argued that the government is failing to make reasonable adjustments under Equality Act 2010. The Court of Appeal largely upheld an Upper Tribunal judgment which had found MHPs are being put at a substantial disadvantage. (The tribunal had felt unable to decide on current evidence … Read more MM & DM v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions

The tribunal held there was a breach of the European Convention of Human Rights where businesses were required to submit VAT returns online, without appropriate exemptions for people who because of disability (or some other reasons) were unable to use a computer. The case seems relevant to whether people who stammer should be expected to … Read more LH Bishop v Commissioners of Revenue and Customs

The Court of Appeal held that a restaurant did not have to make a reasonable adjustment to allow a disabled family to eat in a picnic area immediately next to the outdoor tables. Whether or not that would be reasonable, it would be a different kind of service. The case was under DDA 1995 rather … Read more Edwards v Flamingo Land

The Court of Appeal found a bank to be in breach of the reasonable adjustment duty, because its main branch in Sheffield was not accessible to wheelchair users. Even if banking services could be accessed in alternative ways, such as over the internet, the policy of the Disability Discrimination Act was to provide a service … Read more Royal Bank of Scotland v Allen

An autistic boy had become ‘stuck’ at the side of a swimming pool, and jumped into the water when approached by police. He ended up being restrained by the police, and put in the cage at the back of a police van. The Court of Appeal upheld a decision that the police had failed to … Read more ZH v The Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis

The Court of Appeal considered the reasonable adjustment duty for service providers. The court said that the policy of the legislation is not a minimalist policy of simply ensuring that some access is available to the disabled. It is, so far as reasonably practicable, to approximate the access enjoyed by disabled persons to that enjoyed … Read more Roads v Central Trains