Question for British members

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Does Britain have an equivalent to the Americans with Disabilities Act? And how would you go about finding out if it applies in a certain situation?

My sister, who has cerebal palsy, recently had a horrible experience at Heathrow Airport when her requests for a wheelchair went unheeded or were outright denied. At one point she was forced to ride on a baggage cart and was openly ridiculed by a gate agent for it. Neither the airline she arrived on (Northwest) nor Aer Lingus nor British Midlands (after her party missed the Aer Lingus flight) would give her a wheelchair and instead sent her and her party back and forth between the three. Even security was unable to help. Finally she and her group found an unattended wheelchair in a corner and "liberated" it.

Northwest says "they are looking into it." I feel my sister's rights were violated in this situation, but I am not sure if the ADA would apply because the incident happened on British soil. Although an American carrier was involved. Does any one know what other recourse (if any) she has in this situation?

it's the DDA [disability discrimination act],dad has had to quote some of it to the council on behalf of am before because of a mosquito device, and anti squirrel/cat device that left am housebound at his every weekend,they came out quicker than the police when they heard and took it very seriously.

airports will be included in DDA,though some airlines charge for wheel chairs,the problem is,if the airline she used charged for them,
and she did not book one,they might quote their rules back over the DDA.
it does not sound very fair at all that they did not give a wheel chair [neither should they charge for them] as they are needed by the user,it's not like it's asking for a ferrari,it's a disability aide to replace what able bodieds are able to do.

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/DisabledPeo ... DG_4001068

Thanks, KingdomofRats, I will pass the info on to her. I just consider it a disgrace that anyone should have been treated that way. Then the airlines wonder why nobody respects them!

Disability discrimination act and what a load of bull sh** if you ask me

The airport service described here sounds a lot like Air Canada

the Court of Appeal has stated that in these situations it is the responsibility of both the airline and the airport to ensure wheelchairs are available for passengers free of charge.

the court case is Ross v Ryanair [2004] (Court of Appeal)

a report of the case is here: Ryanair loses wheelchair case

and you can even read the judgement online here, which shows how the judge has interpreted the Disability Discrimination Act Ross v Ryanair (2004) EWCA

i'm not sure how you'd proceed if you're in the US, you'll have to get legal advice. from the details you gave though your sister has a very strong case, and presumably her party are all witnesses to what went on. i dont know how these things work but i would hope that with a good lawyer's letter the airlines and airport might offer compensation without going through court as the ryanair case is quite clear.

in disability discrimination cases the courts here seem to award about £1000 for 'injury to feelings' on average.

disclaimer: i am not a lawyer! (but i am a law student )