WON Jeanine Blamires V Local Government Ombudsman

[JinnyD]

Hi
Just to let you know I won my claim against the Local Government Ombudsman in the County Court.

Judgement was handed down on Wednesday, only have the draft judgement so far but court says I can share now.

Judgement with regards to Jeanine Melissa Blamires V Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) found LGO discriminated against myself contrary to sections 15,19,20 and 29 of the Equality Act 2010 in the course of their investigation of her complaint against NYCC made on 16 August 2012. The LGO breached the 4th and 7th principles of the Data Protection Act 1998 in failing to keep the my data accurate and up to date, in failing to take appropriate technical and organisational measures to avoid the accidental loss of personal data and by destroying my personal data.
I have been awarded aggravated damages for the way the LGO has conducted their Defence during this Claim.

Hope its ok to share these links ? For anyone daft enough to try this themselves as litigant in person I refer you to the following

http://www.stammeringlaw.org.uk for a comprehensive breakdown of equality law and cases suitable for all disability discrimination claims.

http://www.civillitigationbrief.com Updates and commentary on Civil Procedures, Costs, evidence etc by Gordon Exall Barrister

https://www.thepsu.org They provide free support in the civil and family courts and some tribunals, with issues such as contact with children, divorce, eviction and money claims. they are absolutely awesome.

and Legal Beagles you helped me get started for which I am extremely grateful. Thank you.

Also folks can you pass this on please as it has affected a lot of disabled people, for many years at least 8 the Local Government Ombudsman (LGSCO) has had a policy that removes from their records the reasonable adjustments information from Disabled people who complain to them, via their online complaint form. This is a breach of the Equality Act and the Data Protection Act but it also meant many may not have been able to get their complaints fairly dealt with. Thanks Jeanine

[Amethyst]

Re: WON Jeanine Blamires V Local Government Ombudsman

Yes of course the links are fine, Well done on sticking up for yourself and taking this through to a Judgment. Not something many have the strength or willpower to do. When you get the full Judgment it would be interesting to read.

removes from their records the reasonable adjustments information from Disabled people who complain to them, via their online complaint form.

Did you obtain details of the policy under FOI act ?

The Judgment is against the LGO - presumably how they handled your complaint about the policy ? How did the original complaint go ?

[R0b]

Re: WON Jeanine Blamires V Local Government Ombudsman

That's great news Jeanine, could you perhaps provide a brief summary as to what the Ombudsman had done or said to have been in breach of the Equality Act?

I can't seem to find your thread about it on here.

[Kati]

Re: WON Jeanine Blamires V Local Government Ombudsman

I can't seem to find your thread about it on here.

could be these??:
http://legalbeagles.info/forums/show...ed-court-claim
http://legalbeagles.info/forums/show...in-court-claim

[Kati]

Re: WON Jeanine Blamires V Local Government Ombudsman

Well done [MENTION=42351]JinnyD[/MENTION] ... I've managed to find a copy of your written submission to the Select Committee online, would it be OK with you if I posted it up??

[JinnyD]

Re: WON Jeanine Blamires V Local Government Ombudsman

Yes that's me and yes of course you can. It's just the draft judgement as yet, but I'm happy to share if you want?

[EXC]

Re: WON Jeanine Blamires V Local Government Ombudsman

It's just the draft judgement as yet, but I'm happy to share if you want?

If you're sure that the court said you can then yes.

Oh, and well done.

[Kati]

Re: WON Jeanine Blamires V Local Government Ombudsman

This is the link I found https://humanrightsforallsite.files....e-evidence.pdf (pages 175-181)

Jeanine Blamires – Written Evidence (EQD0171)

Reasonable adjustment
3. Are the reasonable adjustment duties known and understood by disabled people,employers, service providers and others who have duties under them? How does this applyin the specific cases of public transport, taxis, education and access to sports grounds?

Summary:My experience of reasonable adjustments.It is not always evident that staff, in different organisations, understand the reasonableadjustment duties. At times it is clearly evident they understand but are choosing not tocomply.The biggest reasonable adjustment a person or organisation can make is attitude. Awillingness to make simple changes that are not costly but can be life changing.In my experience as a disabled household with multiple disabilities the following simpleadjustments appear to be practically impossible for service providers to apply.

We need warning regarding change in routine,
Such as ringing to arrange visits rather turning up on the door step. A particularproblem with our housing association despite many requests.
Or at school/college notifying a change in a timely manner.

The consequences of notinclude distress and potentially an autistic meltdown.

When things go wrong, in health, education, social care, etc equal access to complaintsprocedures and services are paramount to ensure situations do not escalate and causeharm.

My experience is that complaint systems are set up with barriers that prohibit access by adisabled person with my kind of difficulties also the understanding of what is substantialdisadvantage, accessibility and reasonable adjustments is poor.Where I live advocacy is practically nonexistent, and as such you feel abandoned. This isespecially difficult when you find yourself challenging large organisations such as County andDistrict Councils, Utility Companies etc.

[JinnyD]

Re: WON Jeanine Blamires V Local Government Ombudsman

Wow this makes me really sad reading this, things have not changed

Re Draft Judgement yes we are allowed to, double checked before we sent anything out

[Amethyst]

Re: WON Jeanine Blamires V Local Government Ombudsman

Goodness me. Even I've gone to see someone who was struggling in sending documents because of health issues. Collected docs, copied them, and gave the originals back. Okay maybe these orgs have more red tape than me to jump through to visit people but seriously ! It's just sensible and human. Also, why the heck couldn't any voluntary service help you with it? I see you tried posting on here but I guess gave up when it came to needing to post your particulars of claim on the site. Wish we'd picked up on the problems you were having, we might have been able to help out a bit, although sadly too late to help with your original LGO complaint.

Well I hope your case will ensure they treat reasonable adjustments with the care and seriousness they deserve in the future.

Well done again

( I know it's a draft - but there's a typo in para 60 - if they're amending for the final version )

[EXC]

Re: WON Jeanine Blamires V Local Government Ombudsman

I'm only a third of the way through it but it's a fascinating read. You should be very proud of yourself for your perseverance.

[JinnyD]

Re: WON Jeanine Blamires V Local Government Ombudsman

You did help with the statement of case and that was invaluable.

Ok why no voluntary help. I did get a lot of help from the PSU but they cannot provide legal help. Due to the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 there are only 3 solicitors that can provide legal help for discrimination cases in the county. They are not funded well. Complex case like this are expensive.

Nobody else including the Citizens Advice Bureau are allowed to provide publicly funded Legal help with regard to disabled discrimination. As a result help with regard to disabled discrimination has been gutted! Didn't stop me trying though, I contacted many big organisations and not one could or was prepared to help. I cried a lot.

Obviously as we are on disabled benefits we can not pay for help. Civil Legal Aid requires you to be capable of accessing it, as it is initially a phone service, that is bloody hard when you have speech difficulties, which I had quite badly at that time, it has improved, but still at times a problem.

They cocked it up and I experienced much the same difficulties as I experienced with the Ombudsman. For people like me there is supposed to be a face to face service, they did not wish to provide it. Lot to this, not for now.

I complained in the end to the prime minister, deputy prime minister, the justice department and minister and two of the disabled Lords.

I was given leave to complain to the Parliamentary health and social care Ombudsman unfortunately access to the service was still a problem and there are issues re conflict of interest. It stalled. The LGO and PSHO are merging to form the new public ombudsman.

I tried to get pro bono help. That's fun. Again its not a service that is geared to equal access for disabled people. I did get help from the CAB for that but its a complex case and was hard to explain, it took months to fill in the form and provide evidence.

They read the defence, the one District Judge Geddes has castigated and said it was ok. I just wasn't up to the fight to challenge that assumption, I had a case to take forward. Felt absolutely terrified though and completely overwhelmed much of the time and I got more poorly, specifically my involuntary movements became worse, violent and painful and not nice to watch.

To be frank it has been a complete and utter nightmare.

Most shocking was the evidence given in court, there was no excuse to drag this out so long. I should be relieved but based on their behaviour throughout I will not be surprised if they try and appeal.

[JinnyD]

Re: WON Jeanine Blamires V Local Government Ombudsman

Hello

Heres the Final Judgement and Order. Can you please have look at the last paragraph of the Judgement, I need a bit of help re costs, does this mean I get indemnity costs as an LIP or do I need the costs assessing for that?



Thanks Jinny

[Amethyst]

Re: WON Jeanine Blamires V Local Government Ombudsman

Seems to be costs on a standard basis, have you submitted your costs schedule to the defendants ?

[JinnyD]

Re: WON Jeanine Blamires V Local Government Ombudsman

I did to the court and the defendants but not the complete in depth breakdown and I did say it was not complete, just could not finish it in time and I wanted the judgement out. I did ask for indemnity costs and they asked for no costs. Also the very nice people at the Local Government Ombudsman then sent a request for a supplementary judgement saying the District Judge Geddes had got it wrong, so more time at the PSU and more of my health was wasted on fighting that but as it was after submissions were supposed to be in it has not been costed. I've read that standard costs where a LIP is involved is indemnity costs.