Many people tend to think of the obligations under the Equality Act 2010 (Equality Act) as applying only in relation to employees. However, the legislation also imposes obligations on service providers towards any customer or person using their services. The duty not to unlawfully discriminate covers all protected characteristics (age, sex, religion/belief, race, sexual orientation, gender re-assignment, marriage/civil partnership, pregnancy/maternity and disability). The most onerous duty and the one most likely to arise in practice is the duty owed to those with a disability.
Organisations are required to take a proactive approach to ensure that disabled people face no substantial disadvantage when accessing their services. If organisations fail to do so, they may suffer significant reputational risk and legal claims, both of which have financial consequences.
Any person concerned with the provision of a service, goods or facilities to the public, or a section of the public, whether for a fee or otherwise, is prohibited from acting or failing to act in any way which constitutes discrimination, harassment or victimisation.
A key aim of the Equality Act is to provide disabled people with access to services as close as reasonably possible to the standard offered to the public at large. To achieve this aim, service providers are...
MATAGORDA COUNTY — A Bay City physician is facing a federal False Claims Act lawsuit alleging he fraudulently billed Medicare nearly $500,000 for surgical neurostimulator electrode implantations h...