What is Disability Discrimination in Services?
Disability Discrimination in Services happens when you are treated less favourably than someone who does not have a disability, or who does not have the same disability as you in.
People cannot discriminate on the grounds of disability:
- when they are providing goods and services to the public generally or, a section of the public;
- whether these are free or where the goods and services are sold, hired or rented or exchanged; or
- when providing access to and the use of any place or facility.
Who can you complain to?
Complaints under the Employment Equality Acts and the Equal Status Acts are made to the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC).
The WRC deals with claims related to employment and to services or goods, including education, housing, membership clubs and certain cases relating to pubs.
Note that there are very strict timeframes to complain.
What rights do you have accessing goods and services?
Watch our video below to see some examples of discrimination, learn about your rights and find out how to make a complaint.
What law protects you against discrimination accessing goods and services?
The Equal Status Acts 2000-2018 (ESA) protect you from discrimination when you are buying goods or accessing services.
The ESA ban discrimination, harassment and sexual harassment in:
- Sale or provision of goods and services
- Housing services
- Access to education
What is covered under the ESA?
Reasonable accommodation
If you have a disability, you have the right to ask for a reasonable accommodation.
Reasonable accommodation means the measures that need to be taken to enable a person with a disability to use a service.
This means that if you have a disability, the provider of a service must do all that is reasonable to accommodate your needs, if it would be impossible or very difficult for you to access the service without the reasonable accommodation.
This could involve providing special treatment or facilities.
If you are using a business or service for the first time, while there is no obligation to do so, it may be a good idea to make sure they know that you have a disability and understand what type of reasonable accommodation you will need them to arrange.
Harassment, sexual harassment and victimisation
The ESA prohibits harassment, sexual harassment and victimisation.
The person in charge of running any place where goods, facilities or services is responsible for preventing harassment, sexual harassment and victimisation.
- Harassment is any form of unwanted conduct related to any of the specified grounds.
- Sexual harassment is any form of unwanted verbal, nonverbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature.
- Victimisation is where you are treated badly because you have made or were involved in making a complaint.
The responsible person must ensure that any person who has a right to be there is not sexually harassed or harassed. The responsible person must be able to prove that they took ‘reasonably practicable’ steps to prevent any sexual harassment or harassment.
Exceptions and Exemptions
There are some exemptions to the Equal Status Acts.
There are two general types of exemption:
- Exceptions or exemptions required by law or by order of a court
- Positive action aiming to promote equal opportunity for disadvantaged groups
Some exceptions and exemptions apply to specific circumstances.
Exemptions on the disability ground
There are some exemptions that only apply to the disability ground.
A service provider does not have to offer reasonable accommodation if it would cost more than a nominal amount. Deciding what counts as nominal depends on several factors, including the size of the business, its financial resources and the actual costs of the reasonable accommodation.
A service provider should consult with you and ask your opinion on ways to accommodate your needs.
Have you experienced discrimination for another reason?
Select the ground and area where you have experienced discrimination