Deaf woman sues Little Mix promoter

I am appalled. Have taken a fence and flung the gate at it as well.

FFS! I've heard it all now (no pun intended)..........

I represent the Fat Thighs Society and consequently I won't have a word said against the members of Little Mix.

I couldn't make my mind up as to which was the more laughable NON news story on the News at One.

Was it the one above, or this fundraiser where women were reportedly sexually abused left right and centre, yet none of them phoned 999?

Apparently it is against the law to promote a concert at which a disabled person cannot derive as much enjoyment as a non disabled person. The promoter was contacted in advance by the lady and failed to fulfil his legal requirement. I know it does sound crazy but he left himself open and will probably regret it.

"reasonable adjustments" so it's as "close as possible" is the law. Eventually they got an interpreter for Little Mix which by the look of it took more trouble than it should have. To continue with legal action because of the support acts to me is really petty especially when they compare it to only "seeing the last 20 minutes of a film". Might be out of spite

The support acts themselves probably don't even know the words of their songs so is it reasonable for a sign expert to learn the lyrics in such short notice? Why not google them and print them off? It's giving 'equality' a bad name imo.

It really is a world gone mad. So do ALL bands have to do this? Pub bands?
Small rock and indy bands trying to make it?

Extreme Death metal bands, so someone has to stand at the side frantically signing about as someone growls (that nobody can make out anyway)
about "Satan sacrificing virgins with the heads of babies" or something?

And the news had yet another "someone gets a job so the snowflakes go through their entire twitter history to find something to get angry about".

When the **** is this crap going to get a backlash from the reasonable majority and stopped?

Won't be too long, as soon as the reasonable majority are forced into anger as a last resort.

JC - I also saw that piece about Neville's tweets being forensically examined to see if there was one scintilla of evidence of him holding an 'incorrect' opinion, that would disqualify him from a job in Women's Football.

I'm guessing that if they'd found nothing, they'd have rounded up as many of his primary school chums as possible to see if he'd ever sang an inappropriate nursery rhyme.

Very unreasonable woman, they provided an interpreter, and if I have read this right, her argument is they only signed for the main act, and did not sign the support acts. But they supplied what was asked for, an interpreter for the main billing, Little Mix. If that is right, the arrogance of this woman is amazing !

Entitlement Generation.

They provided a sign specialist for the Little Mix, upgraded their seats, gave them access to private toilet, had electronic board for anything spoken etc. They pushed the boat out for the family.

Disgusting this 'claim' culture. Opportunists using a medical condition to extract money they are not due; despite the best efforts to accommodate them.

I hope they bill her for paperwork and time spent.

I hope some of her neighbours despise her.

surprised this complaint didnt fall on deaf ears

saddo • January 24, 2018 7:03 PM GMT
I hope some of her neighbours despise her


They do saddo. theyve told her many times to no avail

When I first saw the story I assumed the kid was deaf....but realised it was the mother who was.
Why the hell does a grown woman well into her 40-50s want to 'read' the sign language for the lyrics of a kid's group?

What about nightclubs then, are they liable to provide sign language to convey lyrics at those events too?
What about juke boxes in pubs?

Everytime somebody puts a quid in the juke box the employed signer in every pub across the land has to get up and sign the lyrics?

Im embarrassed for the woman.

Welcome to the world we are leaving to our grandchildren.

I hope you're at t5he wind up screaming.
Injera summed it up well. Entitlement Generation.
Feckin crazy law btw, buskers beware.

Nobody's suing a busker, or a jukebox owner, or a pub landlord.

It's four multi-millionaires, who charge 60 quid-plus per ticket, yet tried to get away with saving fifty quid by booking a signer for half the gig instead of the whole gig.

Look. If this mother were blind, the band would have done everything possible to help her - what a photo opportunity, with the dark glasses, the cuddly labrador and the kids.

But deafness? Nah. Deaf people just stand there looking stupid, don't they? Can't even get an interview out of 'em. Forget it. Nothing they can do about it, is there? Hah!

They provided a sign specialist for the Little Mix, upgraded their seats, gave them access to private toilet, had electronic board for anything spoken etc. They pushed the boat out for the family.

That's from Charwells post yet you say they didn't do anything for her.

They didn't push the boat out. They did the opposite. They tried to do it on the cheap by only hiring a signer for part of the gig, and pocketing the saving themselves a couple of hours of wages.

It's up to the artist to decide , no one else
sorry sfbtw

That's not what the law says though, lfc.

If you feel that accommodating disabled customers should not be a legal obligation, then campaign to change the law.

Leaving the legal aspect aside, I still can't get over how you all find yourselves aligning morally with the multi-millionaire stars from the Simon Cowell stable, and not the disabled mother and her family. Unless maybe you reckon it's not really a disability. And somehow, when her children want to talk about the gig, she'll be able magically to know what was going on at it.

I doubt the group would know anything about this.

I didn't say people couldn't be there, if I was death I would still have wanted to go to concerts when I was younger
I wouldn't have missed that for anything . I wouldn't have wanted anything done to make me noticed
I like to be invisible

FFS, she's deaf, listening to a live band aint very practical, get over it.

*deaf

I disagree , I would not mind going to a concert , especially a rock or punk concert and being deaf

Despise Russell Brand but forced to steal one of his comments.
This woman is a poundshop Gina Miller.

If there was signage that would make it worse , not better

I would go to se the band , and to be there

rock music and a concert is very beautiful in that way , you don't have to hear the music

What's the point of seeing the lyrics a few seconds after the notes have sounded in yer heed?

@ Saddo:

How about paraplegics in wheelchairs complaining about no ramps on a pavement? Would you advise them to get over it? Leaving the house ain't very practical, after all.

What about blind people who get annoyed when audio description gets dropped from TV programmes without warning? What do you say? "Let's face it, TV's not very practical if you're blind; just accept you won't have a clue what your family, friends and the whole world are talking about, because TV isn't for you; you're disabled - you're not part of the world of us normal people."

Gigs are great, if you're deaf. You can enjoy the spectacle, the energy, the vibrations (literally). It's the one time you're almost part of the world everyone else enjoys. But it's still only "almost"; and that missing bit must be especially acute from the point of view of a deaf mother wanting to bring up her hearing children enjoying the same experiences children with hearing mothers do.

no there should be access for people in wheelchairs of course , that is a matter for the venue

Piling it on now screaming.

I have a damaged knee which hurts when I go on long walks. I would like to go walking without pain like other people, who should I sue?

The issue for the mother is not her enjoyment of the music: delays in interpreting what's happening don't matter. She just wants to be aware of what her children are experiencing, as any decent mother would.

Having said that, you do get used to the delays and errors in signing and subtitling. In some ways it makes the experience your own one.

perhaps you're right sfbtw, I'm not sure . It's something that doesn't suit my way of thinking , because I can't imagine I would be comfortable if I was deaf and there was signage
I'd prefer there not to be , but everyone is different

I went to the pub on Sunday to watch the rugby , and didn't see very much of it
That was good , I enjoyed it

Saddo, I think you should sue any venue which charges you £60 to enter, but won't let you in until half way through the gig.

This ‘story’ just makes me think it lawyer lead, maybe thinking of branching into new markets?
So what about nightclubs then, are they expected to have one?
What about cinemas etc?
This could be the new growth sector where everywhere has to employ signers.

The talk of the mother needing to read the signing to be available to answer questions to the daughter who’s no doubt heard the songs a thousand times before makes it sound as though they are the words of Aristotle ffs.....it’s little mix, apparently some forgettable group among countless who make throwaway songs for youths.

What these acts tend to be is choreographed to the hilt, having some signer who is enforced on the routine giving approximations to arbitrary lyrics I suspect wasn’t part of the act.
Well not yet, perhaps all future acts need a signer in the group?

I’m sure being deaf is horrible and deaf people have my sympathy, but there doesn’t have to be a legal angle of inclusivity for the sublime surely?

The worlds gone mad, why not just ask for a refund?

If she just asked for a refund, she'd be acknowledging that the promoters DON'T have a legal duty to provide a signer.

I'm sure the case is lawyer-led. Hard to take the decision to sue otherwise.

She's not suing a cinema or a nightclub, because neither event would be taking enough revenue from its customers to enable the provision of such a service. If anyone sought that, they'd get short shrift in court, which is why no deaf person ever expects it or demands it. But an event on the scale of Little Mix's gigs, with ticket prices at that sort of level, ought to be a different matter according to the law; or at least in this woman's opinion. We'll find out.

If you want evidence that deaf people are reasonable over this, and aren't going to start suing cinemas, for instance, there's a petition doing the rounds, asking for cinemas to show more than the very few subtitled films they do at the moment. There's no intention or desire to go down a frivolous legal route, or to demand signing. Just a reasonable request for a compromise via a petition, without involving the law:

https://www.change.org/p/petition-uk-multiplex-cinemas-to-dedicate-one-screen-to-subtitled-screenings-for-deaf-people/d?source_location=combo_psf

This woman's case, where the promoters acknowledged they ought to be providing a signer, and then tried to save money by only booking one for half the gig, is a different matter.