By IANS,
London : Two years after they were “shooed off” from a salon on grounds that their disabilities were scaring other clients, India-born Aruna Gill and two of her friends have received out of court compensation from the owner who wanted to avoid a law suit charging her with discrimination.
Aruna Gill, 17, Amy Fox, 19, and Jemimah Kumba, 14, had gone into the Visage Hair and Beauty salon in Southhall in 2006 to get their nails painted accompanied by two carers. However, one of the workers ushered them away, they claimed.
The female worker allegedly refused to serve Aruna and Jemima, who both use wheelchairs, and Amy, who has learning difficulties.
The teenagers claimed the woman said they were “scaring off the other customers”, and made a “shooing” motion for them to leave the salon.
The girls, who said a carer went to the shop minutes earlier and was told they could be accommodated, brought a claim of goods and services disability discrimination, reports The Telegraph.
Proprietor Parmail Kaur, who was not present on that day, denied the allegations but chose to settle the case out of court. She agreed to a compensation package in March and the three girls have now received payments of 1,500 pounds each. Kaur said the worker concerned had rented space in her salon and has since vacated the position.
Claire Dawson, the teenagers’ solicitor, said: “The girls just wanted to be treated like ordinary teenagers, and it is a sad reflection on our society that prejudice got in the way. They were treated in an appalling manner and I hope that by successfully taking action, other disabled people that have suffered discrimination realise they are not alone and the law is there to protect them.”