NEWS AND COMMENT-MORTLAKE, SOUTHWEST LONDON: Dave Kent, 62, is blind and he has a golden retriever blind dog, Faldo. He was in the Marks & Spencer Mortlake branch going about his business as any other customer would when he was told by a security guard to leave the premises because dogs aren’t allowed. The news media do not tell us the company providing security services to Marks & Spencer. My research indicates that it is Securitas. If it is them, they have failed to train their security guards properly on the equality laws regarding guide dogs.
Dave Kent is an executive at the Guide Dogs charity. He said that he stood his ground initially and refused to leave as he knew the law. At the time he was on his way to the checkout. Dave Kent has been blind since he was 18.
He apparently got management come over and told them that he had been discriminated against. The response was to provide him with a cup of tea. He said: “A cup of tea, I just thought, don’t patronise me”. He left the store without making a purchase.
Dave Kent complained and he has said that “Every time this happens, it’s a kick in the nuts”. He said that, “All I want to do is to go to Marks & Spencer and do what any seeing person would do. And I want to do it unhindered, I am sickened by the security guards.”
He added: “M& know very well their obligations under the equality duty. But the problem arises when guide dogs with these third-party security companies they employ. They’re probably on a low wage, but they are idiots and they are not taught.”
Guide dogs and their owners have important rights under the Equality Act 2010. The law ensures that people with disabilities have equal rights to anybody else to use the services supplied by shops, restaurants, taxis, parks, libraries, hotels and banks.
For example, it is illegal to refuse a blind person and their dog access to a taxi or minicab. The only exception, as I understand it, is if the driver has a certificate from their GP explaining why they cannot be near a dog. Also, providers of services must make reasonable adjustments to accommodate blind people and their guide dogs.
The law applies to England, Scotland and Wales. In Northern Ireland the Disability Discrimination Act gives guide dog owners the same rights. The law means that guide dogs and other assistance dogs with their owners have the right to enter most services, premises and vehicles.
Source: The Times and online.
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