It seems that Supreme Court cases are like buses - we can wait a long time and suddenly two or three come at the same time!
A disabled bus passenger, Mr Paulley, tried to board a bus operated by First Group. The bus had the very typical sign stating 'Please give up this space if needed for a wheelchair user'.
Mr Paulley was not able to board the bus because a passenger with a baby in a pushchair refused to move out of the designated wheelchair space when asked to do so by the bus driver. The passenger indicated that the buggy would not fold.
Mr Paulley brought an action against First Group on the basis that their policy of only requesting the wheelchair user's space rather than requiring the same was discriminatory. The Supreme Court ruled that First Group's policy of simply requesting a non wheelchair user to vacate the space without further steps was unjustified.
It is interesting to note that the Court fell short of forcing bus drivers to remove customers from its vehicle. However, the Court did say that the company should consider what further steps it could take to persuade non wheelchair users to move without making it illegal due to move them.
This decision does raise the practical question of what additional steps bus companies can take to remove non wheelchair users from the bus, but it does make it clear that the driver must do more than make a simple request that someone moves from the wheelchair space. A number of organisations have observed that the ruling does place a lot of responsibility on the driver of the bus.
Unsurprisingly the wider implications of the case are being considered. Organisations that provide wheelchair spaces or facilities may be affected by the judgement, for example supermarket car parks, disabled toilets on trains, other venues with allocated wheelchair spaces.
It will be important for organisations to ensure that their policies are sufficiently well drafted to avoid disadvantage to wheelchair users. Once again, central to this issue will be the fact that organisations must ensure that their staff are properly and appropriately trained.
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