This case was well-publicised in the UK. We thought readers with an interest in equality laws might like a review because it covers matters on reasonable accommodation for wheelchair users on public transport that will come up in Ireland, albeit that different legislation applies. 

This case involved issues of whether a woman with a child in a pushchair on a bus using the disabled section has to get off the bus to let a wheelchair user into the disabled persons area. Or, rather, it didn't - that's just what the media said it was about. It was, according to the Court of Appeal, about "... whether the bus company must have a policy to compel all other passengers to vacate the wheelchair space irrespective of the reason why they are in it, on pain of being made to leave the bus if they do not, leaving no discretion to the driver." That's a different spin put on the case that didn't feature too strongly in most of the discussions in the media. 

Mr Paulley was a wheelchair user who tried to board a bus. A woman with a sleeping child in a pushchair was in the area reserved for wheelchairs and refused to fold down the buggy or wake the child. Mr Paulley had to get the next bus, missed connecting trains and was late for his meeting. Mr Paulley sued FirstGroup for unlawful discrimination against him on the ground of his disability and was awarded £5,500 in damages. FirstGroup appealed. 

It is worth reading this case for the discussion on what is the appropriate provision, criterion or practice (PCP) applied in this case because it is that which gives rise to the require employers and service providers to make reasonable accommodations (adjustments in the UK) to those PCPs in order to accommodate the needs of disabled persons. 

The original judge found that FirstGroup's policy was a PCP which placed Mr Paulley at a substantial disadvantage by comparison with non-disabled bus passengers. He went on to find that there were reasonable adjustments that FirstGroup could have made which would eliminate that disadvantage. Those reasonable steps were an alteration to the conditions of carriage which would require a non-disabled passenger occupying a wheelchair space to move from it if a wheelchair user needed it; coupled with an enforcement policy that would require non-disabled passengers to leave the bus if they failed to comply with that requirement. It is common ground that, as presently drafted, FirstGroup's conditions of carriage do not give a driver power to require (as oppose to request) a passenger to move out of the wheelchair space, or to leave the bus if he or she refuses to do so.

The Court of Appeal upheld the appeal - drivers need to have discretion and reasonable adjustments have to be balanced against the needs of others. Lady Justice Arden commented:

"... the bus company must take all reasonable steps short of compelling passengers to move from the wheelchair space. We have not had argument on this but provisionally I consider that the bus company must provide training for bus drivers and devise strategies that bus drivers can lawfully adopt to persuade people to clear the wheelchair space when needed by a wheelchair user. Bus drivers have to use their powers of persuasion with passengers who can move voluntarily. The driver may even decline for a short while to drive on until someone moves out of the wheelchair space. There is no risk of liability to such passengers in requesting them (firmly) to move, if they can, because if they cannot safely do so, they will not do so. The bus company should also have an awareness campaign and put up notices designed to make other passengers more aware of the needs of wheelchair users. It might also have to conduct surveys to find out when people are likely to travel and what their needs are so that it can do what it can to provide an appropriate number of buses for everyone."

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