Cases on provision of services

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

The Strasbourg court held that the failure to grant the applicant a tax exemption was disability discrimination contrary to Article 14 European Convention of Human Rights. Tax authorities had failed to take account of the specific needs of the applicant’s profoundly disabled child when they refused to grant an exemption. The court said that very … Read more

A former customer, who was gay, succeeded in a claim against a local shop where a shop assistant made ‘gay’ gestures when he walked past. An openly gay customer sought to return some goods to a local shop, as being damaged. The shop refused to refund him (the court held it was entitled to refuse), … Read more

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. As regards what adjustments the police should reasonably have made, the Court of Appeal criticised the lower court for looking at the individual claimant … Read more

Mental health patients (MHPs) claiming Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) argued that the government was failing to make reasonable adjustments under the Equality Act 2010, by not requiring officials to actively consider obtaining further medical evidence (FME) in certain circumstances, such as if information indicated the person was unable to engage effectively with the process. … Read more

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

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

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

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

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