Blind woman who claims Dublin Bus driver tried to 'humiliate' her begins discrimination proceedings

Darragh McDonagh

A blind woman who claims she was injured while disembarking a bus after the driver refused to pull close to the kerb has initiated discrimination proceedings against Dublin Bus.

Áine Wellard, a disability advocate from Dublin, also alleges that she was hurt in a second incident, when a driver lowered the wheelchair ramp to bridge a gap to the kerb – but did so in front of a bus stop pole, causing her to walk into it.

Dublin Bus has now been served with notice that Ms Wellard intends to seek redress under the Equal Status Acts, alleging that the company discriminated against her on grounds of disability, and failed to provide her with reasonable accommodation.

She claims that the driver sought to “humiliate” her for having a disability, and that there was no practical reason for refusing to move the bus closer to the kerb other than “for his own entertainment”.

In an ES1 form, which is the first stage of a discrimination complaint under the Equal Status Acts, Ms Wellard said the initial incident on April 15th had been “distressing, embarrassing, humiliating and totally unnecessary”.

She alleges that there was “a big gap” between the kerb and the bus at a stop near Tesco in Sandymount. Ms Wellard, who also has a lower back problem, said the driver refused to move the bus closer to the kerb three times.

“The driver told me that he had no difficulty in bringing the bus into the kerb but he just refused to do so. He could see I was having difficulty yet he just told me to put my foot out a bit further,” she stated in the ES1 form.

When she attempted to disembark, she lost her balance and fell. She suffered back pain, reduced mobility and other symptoms for around two months after the incident, according to the complaint.

Dublin Bus is required under its contract with the National Transport Authority (NTA) to ensure that buses are pulled close to kerbs to minimise the gap when people are boarding or disembarking.

The State-owned company confirmed that it had investigated a complaint from Ms Wellard in relation to the incident, but refused to tell her the outcome or whether the driver had been sanctioned.

“While I appreciate this may not bring you absolute closure to the matter on your side, I would ask for your trust that Dublin Bus take all complaints seriously and endeavour to find a reasonable and fair decision in each case,” it told her.

Dublin Bus, which has one month to respond to the discrimination claim, said it did not have any further comment to make.