A woman prepares to inject Covid-19.
Brenton Gitch/Galloimages
- The British government lost the case because a deaf woman did not provide a sign language interpreter during the Covid-19 briefing.
- A judge ruled in favor of citizen Katie Rowley.
- The court stated that omitting an interpreter constituted “discrimination.”
On Wednesday, a deaf-mute woman won a court case against the British government for failing to provide a sign language interpreter at a Covid-19 television briefing.
The ruling is the latest setback for the British government in its legal battle with citizens filed for handling the coronavirus pandemic.
Judge Michael Fordham ruled in support of Citizen Katy Rowley and opposed the Cabinet Office’s failure to provide interpretation in the broadcast on September 21 and October 12 last year.
Fordham said that this negligence constituted “discrimination” because it violated the “reasonable adjustment obligation”, but found that the government “currently or continues to violate.”
The campaign group Good Law Project took him to court, accusing him of lack of transparency and nepotism in the contract for the procurement of personal protective equipment.
In June, the High Court ruled that Senior Minister Michael Gove had illegally awarded virus-related communications contracts worth more than $560,000 to a company without proper procedures.
Last year, state auditors found that the government failed to clearly account for the 18 billion worth of goods and services spent during the pandemic.
Raleigh, a 30-year-old freelance actor and writer from Leeds, northern England, hopes to be compensated for his “emotional injury”.
Her lawyer claimed that she should receive thousands of pounds in damages, and the lower court will award the damages later.
According to officials, only two of the more than 170 Covid-19 briefings were illegal because British sign language was not provided.
A government spokesperson said: “Our priority has always been to reach as many audiences as possible through important public information.”
“We will continue to ensure that English sign language interpreters are provided at the Covid-19 briefing.”
In the pandemic briefings broadcasted on television by the decentralized authorities in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, British sign language translations were on the screens.
The London High Court case is out of date for the British government, which on Tuesday launched a plan to improve the use of public transport and taxis by persons with disabilities.
