Are Sam Smiths Pubs discriminating against partially sighted?

robertfall

I was in a Samuel Smiths pub last night and learned that a partially sighted man was told he was not allowed to read his newspaper on an electronic device because they have been banned by the owner.

There are print versions of newspapers in the pub, and fully sighted customers are allowed to read books.

This seems like discrimination to me. Do you think the partially sighted man I spoke to might have a legal case against the chain?

mikehughescq

Last I heard the owner was thinking of a ban and there were stories some places were acting like there already was one. The issue is around noise and conversation. Discouraging the former and encouraging the latter. To that extent I agree with the owner. He’s not stopping people going into pubs. He’s just asking that they drink and talk and if they’re not going to do that then read quietly. In that sense, straightforward discrimination looks likely but he’s not stopping you partaking of his goods and services so I suspect this will end up being about bad publicity more than anything else.

Personally if i want a quiet read of the papers on my iPad and a drink I’d do it at home anyway.

Chloe_Scope

Welcome to the community @robertfall and thank you for sharing this with us. I am unsure if there would be a legal case there, unfortunately this isn't something the community could advise on.

However, it is an interesting discussion. Being partially sighted myself, I too would only be able to read if it was on an electronic advice and it seems unfair when that's the only way I could read!

Adrian_Scope

An interesting issue @robertfall. I hadn't heard about this, so thanks for bringing it to our attention and welcome to the community.