UK disability discrimination law and stammering / stuttering
It’s good to talk about a stammer, but is there a better term than “disclosing”? In any event, I don’t think this matters legally. Stamma’s Blog: The trouble with ‘disclosure’ (6 Feb 2023) suggests that although talking about a stammer is good, “disclosing” may not be the best way to describe doing so. The term … Read more
Appearing in court Major update of Appearing in court with a stammer, including witnesses, defendants, litigants and jurors who stammer. It reflects the updated Equal Treatment Bench Book for judges which now (from February 2021) includes stammering. Two new sections are Case examples of adjustments for stammering in court and Remote hearings. Video chat backgrounds … Read more
Swimming in an open air pond on Hampstead Heath helped the claimant’s disability. A new system of prices to swim in the pond was introduced. Her claims for reasonable adjustments and indirect disability discrimination in relation to these charges failed. The disadvantage she suffered did not have the necessary causal connection with her disability or … Read more
Connection of employment with Great Britain Major update and review of Connection of employment with Great Britain, including later cases, and updated for Brexit. Status of University of Law Added 2020 decision by the Court of Appeal in Nwabueze v University of Law Ltd. The court held that a student could not claim against the … Read more
Retained EU law Bill: changes affecting EqA A Bill published in September 2022 would alter the position of EU law and EU Court decisions in Britain. It may well reduce Equality Act protection in some areas, particularly from 1st Jan 2024. More: Retained EU Law Bill. In connection with that, EU Framework Employment Directive also … Read more
Automated telephone services: RCSLT statement The Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT) has issued a Position statement on automated telephone services, including voice recognition which cannot recognise stammering. Among other things, the statement makes the point that people who communicate differently or with difficulty (including people who stammer) should be involved in the … Read more
Abrahart case: oral assessments led to suicide Abrahart v University of Bristol: oral assessments led to suicide, County Court decision, May 2022. This tragic case involved a physics student with depression and social anxiety disorder. The university continued to seek to use oral interviews to assess her, even though she failed to attend most of … Read more
Whether lack of knowledge relevant to s.15 justification defence City of York Council v Grosset>Justification: tribunal entitled to consider medical evidence not available to the employer added to cover a point made more by the EAT than the Court of Appeal. The Grosset case was in 2018. Also changes to Knowledge of causal link with … Read more
STAMMA’s ad campaign calling for greater stammering representation in the media is now showing in cinemas across the UK. With the support of Pearl & Dean, selected cinemas nationally are showing the one-and-a-half-minute film from STAMMA (the British Stammering Association) until October 2022. The list of cinemas is attached to STAMMA advert on a screen … Read more
An excellent new research paper discusses both benefits and limitations of understanding stammering through the social model of disability. Stuttering and the social model by Constantino, Campbell and Simpson is at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcomdis.2022.106200. One of the co-authors introduces the research paper in this twitter thread. The social model suggests that “disability” is to be found not … Read more