£2K award for deaf woman in disability discrimination case
Fiona McKendry encountered problems while trying to stop fraudulent transactions on her bank account
A profoundly deaf woman has been awarded £2,000 in a disability discrimination case taken against the Northern Bank.
Fiona McKendry, from Belfast, who was assisted by the Equality Commission, wears hearing aids in both ears and is a skilled lip reader.
After spotting ongoing fraudulent activity on her account, Fiona contacted the Bank via telephone as instructed on their website.
Fiona used her brother to explain her disability and to ask for a reasonable adjustment to enable her to act quickly to stop any further transactions. But she said the bank employee would not carry out her request:
"I didn’t want my brother to act for me, I wanted him to relay the instructions of the bank employee to me and I would respond via the speaker phone.
“Even though the bank employee said he could hear me, the account holder, he refused me service because I was lip-reading the information provided to my brother via speaker phone.
"I could see attempted transactions happening on my account while this call was ongoing and was extremely worried.”
The bank did block the card immediately after her phone call, but following what she saw as a refusal of service, Fiona contacted them via their online banking app. The app says it can take 3 - 5 days or more to get a response and she was concerned that the app would be inadequate to deal with her urgent situation.
The next morning, she was invited to meet the branch manager who confirmed her card had been blocked following her call, her account was safe and missing funds would be re-instated.
But the manager also suggested putting in place a mandate that would give her brother access and transaction rights to her bank accounts. Fiona objected to that as she is a financial professional and is capable of managing her financial affairs herself.
She turned the offer down, made a formal complaint to the Northern Bank and contacted the Equality Commission.
Fiona says: “I found this whole episode hugely frustrating - I have no problem running my own finances and I only needed my brother in this instance to act as a go-between so that I could act quickly and decisively to stop money being fraudulently taken from my bank account.
"I am very pleased that the Bank has now put in place technology I can use if I need to contact it in a hurry, which gives me a lot more confidence to deal with the situation if it crops up again.”
Northern Bank Ltd paid the £2,000 without admission of liability, and has since made adjustments to its services.
Mary Kitson, Senior Legal Officer with the Equality Commission said the case is worth noting for two reasons: "First, it’s a very positive outcome that the Bank has made its services more accessible to people with hearing impairments. As part of the settlement of the case, the Bank has put in place a reasonable adjustment to the service it provides through the use of new technology.
"One of the main reasons we support discrimination cases is to change things for the better, so its action is very welcome. Fiona is confident to continue banking with the Northern Bank and delighted with this positive outcome for everyone.
“Secondly, year after year, disability discrimination is the most common cause of complaint to our advice line, and many of these are about access to services. Service providers must be aware of the requirement to make their services accessible to everyone. This has been the case in service provision since 1999."