Customer Disability Discrimination from a big supermarket

[GoldenRaven]

Hi,

I need to bring a discrimination claim for Direct Disability Discrimination and Discrimination Arising from Disability against the supermarket.

Background:

My husband and my 12 yr old who are mentally disabled (diagnosed as such) went shopping. They paid for the shopping with a combination of that supermarket's gift card and money from my husband's bank account. The money left my husband's account, but the till said the transaction was declined.

The managers were called over and my husband showed his bank account. The staff told my husband he needed to pay using another payment method or leave the shop. My husband could not understand why, he explained he has a mental disability that makes it more difficult for him to understand and process information, he asked for time, patience and a clear explanation of the situation and resolution, as is his practice due to his disability. He showed his bank and asked how this could be resolved.

The staff told my husband that his disabilities and my son's disabilities were 'not their concern'. The managers were annoyed and said they had 'important demands' on their time and he was 'wasting their time'.

When my husband started panicking, hyperventilating, and stuttering, the managers threatened to call the police and called the security guard over to remove my husband and my son (who was crying and shaking) from the shop if my husband or my son did not pay for the shopping using another payment method or leave the shop. My husband asked for the gift card back so he could leave. They refused to give my husband back the gift card and said that once used, it was forfeited, and refused to allow them to take home the shopping worth the amount of the gift card because the transaction was not complete.

The staff were very rude to my husband and son, they were very loud and brought attention to the situation. Several staff and customers stood watching. My son called me in tears and was terrified when my husband started having a panic attack, and I could hear the raised voices and threats. I told my son to record everything on his phone. I called my husband's phone and he put it on loudspeaker, I spoke to the store managers explaining my husband's and my son's disabilities and asking if they would liaise with me to resolve the situation. The manager refused to.

I took a taxi to the shop.

In the 10 minutes it took me to get there, the shop staff had continued to threaten my husband and son, ridiculed them for not paying for their shopping and threatened my son that they would call the police to take my son and his Dad away if my son did not stop recording. They had asked the big burly security guard to remove my son and husband (he refused and just stood watching with the rest of the crowd) the manager even called the police. At no point did my husband or my son raise their voice, were rude or aggressive, their distress is clear on the video recording.

When I got there, I asked the manager what happened, and if we could have the shopping, I showed them the proof of the money paid from my husband's bank account, but they refused to give me the shopping. I asked for the gift card back, which they refused to give. They spoke to me normally, without shouting, threatening or attempting to manhandle me out of the shop.

I just wanted to remove my family from the situation, so I just took pictures of the trolley, and the till screen and helped my husband out. My husband could barely walk from the panic attack, he had asked for help and something to sit on and the shop staff refused to help him. This big man twice my weight leant heavily on me as I helped him walk out of the store.

After we left the shop some customers who witnessed the situation, approached us, they admitted hanging back to make sure my husband and son were ok. The husband said he was ready to intervene on my family's behalf if the staff got physical. They have offered to be witnesses should we take this to court.

After paying for the shopping we were left with £13.50 most of which went to paying for my taxi to get to the shop. Both my husband and I are disabled with a very limited fixed income and we have 2 children 12yrs old and 10yrs old. We went without enough food for a few days until the next universal credit payment.

Grievance:

My husband wrote a formal complaint to the head office the same day. This was ignored. He followed it up and eventually got a reply saying that they could not find anyone who remembered the incident or any record of it. They offered to refund the shopping amount to a gift card but to date, we have not received this. This is their reply:

"Thank you for your email. My name is xxx and I am from the Executive Relations Team. I have been asked to look into your concerns and reply to you.

I am sorry to read your account of what happened in the xxxx store when you were paying for your shopping in August. I have checked our database, however, we have no previous record of your email.

I called the Management Team at the store, however they are not able to recall this happening. The Store Manager is new, he joined in October and the old Store Manager is now in xxxxxxxx, however, he is not able to recall anything either.

The service you received was completely unacceptable and I can only apologise to you. When I explained what happened to the new store manager he said that there are a lot of new managers in the store. He assured me that it is not typical of the service that his colleagues would give, and he said he would like to pass on his personal apologies to you as well.

As a gesture of goodwill, I have arranged for a £60.18 gift card to be sent to you. To refund you for the transaction. I understand that you had left the store without your goods and you had paid for them.

Once again, thanks for contacting us and I am sorry I have not been able to investigate what has happened. If we can be of further help to you, please let me know."



Claim:

Given the contrasting difference in how the Asda staff treated me compared to my disabled husband and son, we believed they were treated differently due to their disabilities, and their limited ability to comprehend the situation arising from their disabilities which made the staff very short-tempered with them and treated them like less than human beings.


Questions:

1. How do I go about applying to county court for the outstanding £60 and the discrimination?
2. I think it is the money claim online here: https://www.gov.uk/make-court-claim-...ney/make-claim
3. Do I put both the discrimination and the money claim together?
4. Am I correct in understanding that my husband and my son need to make a separate application?
5. Can I send the paperwork to apply to be my son's litigation friend with his claim application?
6. What else do I need to consider/do?

Thank you for taking the time to read and help me.

[theberenger]

In the absence of any other responses, my own thoughts are that you should take the following action:

In the first instance, you should respond to the member of the executive relations team and inform them that you have not received the gift card, and could they please confirm that it has been sent and when you should expect to receive it. Include your full home address in the email to confirm they know where to send it. Wait for a response from them.

If they don't respond within a reasonable time, say 5 working days, you should contact your bank (or rather, your husband should contact his bank) and inform them that you wish to begin a chargeback to recover the money. Banks don't perform chargebacks willingly, so you would need to be insistent, and you would likely need to provide them with the email from the executive relations team that admits that you have been charge £60 for goods you don't have, but they should do it.

If a chargeback is performed, the money will be added back to your husband's account balance, but the shop in question will know it has been done, so don't expect to get the money back and that be an end of it. If someone from the supermarket wants to object to the chargeback, you will need to be prepared to provide the same evidence of being entitled to it.

[des8]

If you can find a solicitor who is prepared to help your family you might be entitled to legal aid.
Alternatively contact the Equality Advisory Support Service (EASS) who can advise (https://www.equalityadvisoryservice.com/)

I think you need to bring a court claim within 6 months of the incident

[girlatwork10]

If you can find a solicitor who is prepared to help your family you might be entitled to legal aid.
Alternatively contact the Equality Advisory Support Service (EASS) who can advise (https://www.equalityadvisoryservice.com/)

I think you need to bring a court claim within 6 months of the incident

Only 6 months? Not sure when it all took place, but I thought it was 3 yrs from the incident for court claims;
going to an ombudsman - for some disability complaints - can take 12 months to get a verdict so to go from there to court you may have yet another 6-12 month wait, due to the covid backlog, to claim compensation

[girlatwork10]

In the absence of any other responses, my own thoughts are that you should take the following action:

In the first instance, you should respond to the member of the executive relations team and inform them that you have not received the gift card, and could they please confirm that it has been sent and when you should expect to receive it. Include your full home address in the email to confirm they know where to send it. Wait for a response from them.

If they don't respond within a reasonable time, say 5 working days, you should contact your bank (or rather, your husband should contact his bank) and inform them that you wish to begin a chargeback to recover the money. Banks don't perform chargebacks willingly, so you would need to be insistent, and you would likely need to provide them with the email from the executive relations team that admits that you have been charge £60 for goods you don't have, but they should do it.

If a chargeback is performed, the money will be added back to your husband's account balance, but the shop in question will know it has been done, so don't expect to get the money back and that be an end of it. If someone from the supermarket wants to object to the chargeback, you will need to be prepared to provide the same evidence of being entitled to it.

Gift cards are now being issued more and more as E-cards, so it could be sent by email, just a thought

[girlatwork10]

Hi,

I need to bring a discrimination claim for Direct Disability Discrimination and Discrimination Arising from Disability against the supermarket.

Background:

My husband and my 12 yr old who are mentally disabled (diagnosed as such) went shopping. They paid for the shopping with a combination of that supermarket's gift card and money from my husband's bank account. The money left my husband's account, but the till said the transaction was declined.

The managers were called over and my husband showed his bank account. The staff told my husband he needed to pay using another payment method or leave the shop. My husband could not understand why, he explained he has a mental disability that makes it more difficult for him to understand and process information, he asked for time, patience and a clear explanation of the situation and resolution, as is his practice due to his disability. He showed his bank and asked how this could be resolved.

The staff told my husband that his disabilities and my son's disabilities were 'not their concern'. The managers were annoyed and said they had 'important demands' on their time and he was 'wasting their time'.

When my husband started panicking, hyperventilating, and stuttering, the managers threatened to call the police and called the security guard over to remove my husband and my son (who was crying and shaking) from the shop if my husband or my son did not pay for the shopping using another payment method or leave the shop. My husband asked for the gift card back so he could leave. They refused to give my husband back the gift card and said that once used, it was forfeited, and refused to allow them to take home the shopping worth the amount of the gift card because the transaction was not complete.

The staff were very rude to my husband and son, they were very loud and brought attention to the situation. Several staff and customers stood watching. My son called me in tears and was terrified when my husband started having a panic attack, and I could hear the raised voices and threats. I told my son to record everything on his phone. I called my husband's phone and he put it on loudspeaker, I spoke to the store managers explaining my husband's and my son's disabilities and asking if they would liaise with me to resolve the situation. The manager refused to.

I took a taxi to the shop.

In the 10 minutes it took me to get there, the shop staff had continued to threaten my husband and son, ridiculed them for not paying for their shopping and threatened my son that they would call the police to take my son and his Dad away if my son did not stop recording. They had asked the big burly security guard to remove my son and husband (he refused and just stood watching with the rest of the crowd) the manager even called the police. At no point did my husband or my son raise their voice, were rude or aggressive, their distress is clear on the video recording.

When I got there, I asked the manager what happened, and if we could have the shopping, I showed them the proof of the money paid from my husband's bank account, but they refused to give me the shopping. I asked for the gift card back, which they refused to give. They spoke to me normally, without shouting, threatening or attempting to manhandle me out of the shop.

I just wanted to remove my family from the situation, so I just took pictures of the trolley, and the till screen and helped my husband out. My husband could barely walk from the panic attack, he had asked for help and something to sit on and the shop staff refused to help him. This big man twice my weight leant heavily on me as I helped him walk out of the store.

After we left the shop some customers who witnessed the situation, approached us, they admitted hanging back to make sure my husband and son were ok. The husband said he was ready to intervene on my family's behalf if the staff got physical. They have offered to be witnesses should we take this to court.

After paying for the shopping we were left with £13.50 most of which went to paying for my taxi to get to the shop. Both my husband and I are disabled with a very limited fixed income and we have 2 children 12yrs old and 10yrs old. We went without enough food for a few days until the next universal credit payment.

Grievance:

My husband wrote a formal complaint to the head office the same day. This was ignored. He followed it up and eventually got a reply saying that they could not find anyone who remembered the incident or any record of it. They offered to refund the shopping amount to a gift card but to date, we have not received this. This is their reply:

"Thank you for your email. My name is xxx and I am from the Executive Relations Team. I have been asked to look into your concerns and reply to you.

I am sorry to read your account of what happened in the xxxx store when you were paying for your shopping in August. I have checked our database, however, we have no previous record of your email.

I called the Management Team at the store, however they are not able to recall this happening. The Store Manager is new, he joined in October and the old Store Manager is now in xxxxxxxx, however, he is not able to recall anything either.

The service you received was completely unacceptable and I can only apologise to you. When I explained what happened to the new store manager he said that there are a lot of new managers in the store. He assured me that it is not typical of the service that his colleagues would give, and he said he would like to pass on his personal apologies to you as well.

As a gesture of goodwill, I have arranged for a £60.18 gift card to be sent to you. To refund you for the transaction. I understand that you had left the store without your goods and you had paid for them.

Once again, thanks for contacting us and I am sorry I have not been able to investigate what has happened. If we can be of further help to you, please let me know."



Claim:

Given the contrasting difference in how the Asda staff treated me compared to my disabled husband and son, we believed they were treated differently due to their disabilities, and their limited ability to comprehend the situation arising from their disabilities which made the staff very short-tempered with them and treated them like less than human beings.


Questions:

1. How do I go about applying to county court for the outstanding £60 and the discrimination?
2. I think it is the money claim online here: https://www.gov.uk/make-court-claim-...ney/make-claim
3. Do I put both the discrimination and the money claim together?
4. Am I correct in understanding that my husband and my son need to make a separate application?
5. Can I send the paperwork to apply to be my son's litigation friend with his claim application?
6. What else do I need to consider/do?

Thank you for taking the time to read and help me.

Guesture of Goodwill !
Is £60.18 the exact amount the shopping cost? I just wondered if they had added more pounds as a goodwill gesture/compensation for the issues. Salisbury gave me 60 pounds as a gift card yrs back after they falsely accused me of shoplifting.....

the absolute rubbish excuse that it cannot be investigated ! What are the cameras for? Security guard testimony, etc.
the store responder or relations team is pulling the wool!

[des8]

Only 6 months? Not sure when it all took place, but I thought it was 3 yrs from the incident for court claims;
going to an ombudsman - for some disability complaints - can take 12 months to get a verdict so to go from there to court you may have yet another 6-12 month wait, due to the covid backlog, to claim compensation

Equality act 2010 sec 118
(1)[F1Subject to [F2[F3section] 140AA]] proceedings on a claim within section 114 may not be brought after the end of—

(a)the period of 6 months starting with the date of the act to which the claim relates, or

(b)such other period as the county court or sheriff thinks just and equitable.

[girlatwork10]

Also try going to the Equality Advisory Support Service - they can advise you on your claim - eg disability, speech rights, suppression , etc


Telephone – 0808 800 0082
For regular updates about our service follow us on:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/EqualityAdvisorySupport
Twitter: @EASShelpline

[GoldenRaven]

girlatwork10 and des8 Thank you so much for your kind advice.

It is only 6 months to bring the claim. We have sent it in on time and now just waiting for a response from the defendant.

If they don't have the CCTV footage and cannot track who the staff was, fortunately, we have videos with sound mostly pointed at the floor, but it also caught some of the people involved and we have 2 willing witnesses.

We are currently waiting to see what happens. My son has been very traumatised from this and has spoken to the doctor and the CAMHS about how he is scared about the police coming and taking him and his Dad away while the supermarket gets away scot-free for what they've done.

Come what may, this is something I am prepared to pursue until justice is done. No human deserves to be treated like this. My poor boy did not deserve that, he is the kindest most helpful and considerate person I know and this is what anyone who meets him says. I have to so that I can show him no one gets to treat him this way and if they do, he can fight back.

I will be approaching this as unemotionally as possible, and gather all the information and knowledge I can to help me.

[des8]

Thank you for the update and good luck with the claim.

Please keep us updated as it may help others who find themselves in a similar position

[GoldenRaven]

Hi,
I hope you can help. The claims have been accepted and the supermarket has responded, saying this did not happen, there are no records and that we were not even at the store that day.

Now they want my disclosure, but every time I ask for theirs, they ignore me. I have proposed a date and time to exchange disclosure a few times now and there is no response from the supermarket's lawyer.

I am wondering what is my course of action here. I am weary of disclosing what we have as they may not disclose things like CCTV that will help our case. Ideally, it would be better if disclosure was done simultaneously so they don't hold anything back.

Can I ask for a list of their disclosure?

Thank you for your time and your help