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Disability payout for checkout discrimination

A former Sky News anchor has won undisclosed damages for disability discrimination after he was discriminated against at a store checkout.

Tim Arnold, 47, who has worked as a television reporter for the BBC in London and Northern Ireland, has a rare genetic disease called tuberous sclerosis, which causes brain tumours. His disability means he finds it more convenient to shop with a chip and signature credit card, instead of chip and PIN.

But check out operators at a branch of a large national store, in the South East of England, refused to honour the card when Mr Arnold tried to buy shaving foam in October 2006.

Instead they told him to stand aside to let other people in the queue go ahead of him, as he tried to explain how his disability affected him.

His lawyer, Paul Daniels, a partner at the award-winning national disability law specialists Russell Jones & Walker , says Mr Arnold has justly won his case, by way of a confidential out of court settlement. He said:

"This is a very significant case as it shows the importance of shops, restaurants, pubs and other goods and service providers of having policies to deal with the use of chip and signature cards, and, crucially, the need to properly train staff on these policies. More than 2.3 million people use chip and signature in the UK."

"This case could have been easily avoided with more training and induction of staff. This victory shows that disabled customers are entitled to reasonable adjustments to enable them to access a service, just like any other customer."

Mr Arnold, who now works as a crisis communications consultant and media trainer, says: "I am pleased that the supermarket has settled and apologised. "But it beggars belief that big firms still breach the law like this."

"If I was refused a drink because I was gay, or if I was imprisoned just because I was black, there would be an outcry, but people think disability isn't an issue. They are wrong. All discrimination is wrong."

Mr Daniels added: "Disabled people don't want to take legal action to get their rights, but they have to in all too many cases. Companies must realise that they have a duty to treat disabled customers fairly under the Disability Discrimination Act. If they get it wrong they can face expensive and damaging court claims." Search for other articles like this