Disabled woman loses case against Jetstar

[Banker]

The Federal Court has rejected claims Jetstar discriminated against a 75-year-old disabled woman by refusing to allow her passage.

Sheila King, who has post-polio syndrome and crushed vertebrae as a result of a car crash, sued the airline after she could not get on a flight from Adelaide to Brisbane in 2008.

When Ms King phoned to confirm her boarding arrangements she was told she would have to change her travel plans.

Under Jetstar policy the carrier will only allow two people requiring wheelchair assistance on any domestic flight. Ms King was the third.

Ms King argued Jetstar's policy contravened the Disability Discrimination Act.

But Federal Court Judge Alan Robertson has ruled in favour of Jetstar, saying Ms King did not select "wheelchairs" under a special requirements section of the airline's website and that it had offered to put her on another flight.

Judge Robertson also ordered Ms King to pay Jetstar's costs, capping the amount at $20,000 in acknowledgment of the public interest nature of the case.

Jetstar has welcomed the decision, saying it recognises the airline's commitment to offering safe, low-cost travel to all Australians, including those who require specific assistance.

"This practice is similar to that used by other low-cost carriers in Australia and is designed to balance care for passengers requiring assistance with the everyday operational needs of a low-fares airline," a spokeswoman said.
Call for reform

Joanna Shulman, the head of Redfern Legal Centre who advised Ms King, says the ruling demonstrates that Australia's discrimination laws are not strong enough to protect the rights of people with disabilities.

"Ms King's experience demonstrates that these laws need to be strengthened in order to ensure that service providers cannot discriminate on the grounds of disability," she said.

"Limitations on access to transport can affect a person's ability to work, access health services, spend time with family or enjoy travel.

"Urgent reform is therefore needed to ensure equal access is achieved."

The Federal Government is currently reviewing the nation's discrimination laws.

www.abc.net.au/news/2012-01-13/disabled-woman-loses-case-against-jetstar/3772094

[Banker]

THE veteran disability rights campaigner, Sheila King, 78, is undaunted by the barrage of hateful comments that followed her unsuccessful court action against Jetstar for its ''two wheelchair'' policy.

Mrs King, a board member of several disability organisations, took the airline to the Federal Court when it denied her access to a flight because two other wheelchair passengers were already booked.

''Try travelling by coach,'' was one comment on a website that reported her court loss, including a costs order of $20,000.
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Another said: ''Some people in wheelchairs are just plain ignorant and expect us free walking people to help them.''

On Friday a judge ruled the airline had not discriminated against Mrs King. But she is to appeal against the decision to the full bench.

The vitriol was especially harsh in her home town of Hervey Bay, in Queensland, where more than once she has taken the council to court over access issues - and has chalked up some wins, including the installation of wash basins in disability toilets.

''Ms King has cost the ratepayers of this region hundreds of thousands of dollars,'' said one. Another wrote: ''… am glad this woman has lost and now has to pay the costs. It is too easy to sue people these days. We are getting just as bad as the Americans.''

Mrs King, a disability pensioner who had sought no financial compensation from the airline, said she had become used to hate mail. ''People write things like, 'Live with it; it's not our fault you're disabled','' she said.

But the decision by Justice Alan Robertson has outraged many with disabilities. The director of the Australian Centre for Disability Law, Phillip French, said it had ''disastrous'' implications for the application of

discrimination law. The interpretation of the law indicated ''that any commercial operator like Jetstar is entitled to formulate and maintain a business model that discriminates against a segment of the community''.

Jetstar argued that its tight turn-around times would be compromised by more wheelchair-bound passengers, which would increase costs.

Last week a French court fined easyJet, a low-cost airline, €70,000 ($86,682) for having refused three people in wheelchairs the right to board. The prosecutor cited ''an aggressive commercial policy of reducing operating costs … and if for that you have to have a discriminatory policy, too bad.''

Mrs King, who has polio, has fought for disability rights since the early 1990s but she became dependent on a wheelchair after she was knocked off her mobility scooter in 2008. She won an award at the 2010 International Day for People with Disabilities celebrations, and is on the aviation access working group set up by the federal government, among other bodies. She is the secretary of Australia For All, which has an accessible tourism website

Nicolas Patrick, the chairman of the Redfern Legal Centre, said the case highlighted a huge weakness in discrimination law which did not allow an organisation to complain on behalf of a group. ''It's left to individuals to run these cases at huge personal and financial risk,'' he said.

Mrs King said: ''We've tried being nice and gentle. It didn't work. Sometimes you have to go to court.''

Read more: www.smh.com.au/nsw/advocate-to-appeal-decision-on-wheelchair-20120117-1q4sk.html#ixzz1jiqjQXBT

[StringsAttached]

Australian Centre for Disability Law? Any one here had experience with them? Any good or another agency gathering signatures to get more federal funds?

[Banjo]

There's a few around, I spent a bit of time contacting them when we started the forum but failed to arouse much interest in portability of the DSP.