Doug Paulley wanted to catch a bus from Wetherby to Leeds. The bus had a wheelchair space. A passenger with a sleeping child in a pushchair was using it. The driver asked her to move. She declined. The bus left without him.
The question for the UK Supreme Court was what a bus company should tell its drivers to do in that moment. A sign giving wheelchair users priority meant little if the company’s instructions ended at the first refusal.
What could the driver reasonably do next?
In FirstGroup plc v Paulley, the justices considered the operator’s duty to make reasonable adjustments for disabled passengers under the Equality Act 2010. They recognised that another passenger might have a good reason for needing the space. An instruction to remove every person who declined to move would have ignored that possibility.
The weakness in FirstGroup’s policy lay in treating a request as the end of the conversation whatever the circumstances. If a driver considered a refusal unreasonable, the driver should consider further steps. Where a passenger could readily move elsewhere, that might mean explaining firmly that the space was needed. A short delay before driving on could also be appropriate. The facts at the stop matter.
Why the court’s finding did not produce a damages award
Paulley succeeded in challenging the policy. The majority nevertheless declined to restore his damages. The trial judge had not made the finding needed to show that a stronger intervention had a real prospect of getting him onto that particular bus. Three justices would have restored the award. The difference turns on a question any passenger can recognise. What might actually have changed if the driver had tried again?
What to record after a refused journey
Make a dated note of the route, stop, direction and approximate time. Record the words you remember, what the driver could see, any explanation offered and when the next accessible service arrived. Keep tickets or receipts for extra costs. Ask the operator promptly about preserving relevant footage, giving it enough detail to identify the service. Other passengers’ personal information can stay out of a public complaint.
Read FirstGroup plc v Paulley [2017] UKSC 4, especially paragraphs 60–69.
For an example of adjustments at work, read Archibald v Fife Council. If you want to discuss a journey of your own, book an individual consultation and bring your dated account.
Listen for the difference between a request and a policy
UK Supreme Court · Judgment hand-down · 18 January 2017
As you watch, separate two questions. What could a driver reasonably do after a passenger refused to move? What evidence would show that taking that step could have changed this particular journey? The distinction explains the result on damages.
