School disability discrimination. Take an offer or fight for what’s right?

[mummy1970abc]

I have been given an offer to settle a disability discrimination case against an independent school.
The offer is pathetic and could be fought against.
but I am so cross about how schools fail our kids with Sen that I want to just fight them at every unlawful turn they make.
should I fight or just accept?

Way more information is needed

Impossible to say with the lack of info.

How rich are you and what does your lawyer think?

If you settle, how does that change things for those who come after you?

Fight them all the way and involve the media please do not except a pay off and a non disclosure agreement. The only thing they care about is their reputation.

What outcome do you want? Financial or what’s legally/morally right?

It depends. Independent schools don't have to support SEN if they are not set up to do so. What was the discrimination?

Independent schools do not have to abide by the send cop (a reason to avoid like the plague imo)

Ime they promise send parents the earth and are not required to deliver by the DfE, LA or ofsted.

So, unless you're very rich, I'd advise against it.

Be wary of wearing yourself out in a fight that's stacked against you.

Clearly there’s a lack of information to enable us to make an informed reply. I do find it odd though that when parents don’t get the outcome they expect they then think they should sue.
If a school has not provided what it said it would, then the options are to either follow their complaints procedure in order to resolve the matter satisfactorily, or move schools. In the case of a fee paying school not fulfilling its promise, I would expect a possible reimbursement of some fees.

What’s the outcome for your child and how will the offer help your child in future?

I thought independent schools don't have to provide sen support in the same way. What do you want out of this..
Things change d or to just close the door on this and get on with your life...what does the lawyer say

How deep are your pockets? How do you cope with stress?

I have a friend whose son was 'managed out' of a state primary school, and then the LEA was unable to provide him with an education for nearly a year, while his mum fought a legal battle.

It cost her £60k and a year of sleepless nights but she eventually got him a place at a SEN specific school. The stress was horrendous despite knowing the law was on her side.

The rules for Independents are different, and there is no guarantee you will win. It depends on the details but I'd think carefully about the toll it could take on you personally.

Nobody can advise you without much more background information. And frankly, even if you provided it, taking advice from strangers on the internet rather than your solicitor is madness.

well, there is no way at all to judge from your OP, is there. You might be in the right, you might be in the wrong, you might be in the right morally but have no chance legally - we don't know!

Obviously take legal advice but from experience (not mine but friends) you won't necessarily win because they have clauses that mean they don't have to take sen kids. Whether it's right isn't my point, I just know they kick out anyone who doesn't conform to their student profile. My own dc was kicked out of private nursery for not being able to speak at 2.5 (she was diagnosed with autism later that year, they probably did me a favour truth be told)

If a private school doesn't want you, they are ruthless in my experience

In exactly same situation OP - but with a state school. We are at stage 3 of the formal complaint process and have taken legal advice.

I understand that private schools can take whoever they choose (?) but that doesn't make it right.

It depends what your objective is - do you want to make a difference or a profit?

No. This is far too simplistic. It’s not about profit, you don’t “profit” from a claim like this. But it could be about losing a LOT of money if one proceeds - even if you win you can be liable for the defendant’s costs if the Court doesn’t award you as much as the offer on the table. Making a point at the cost of tens of thousands of pounds can be ruinous and pointless.

Seriously OP, you should follow your solicitor’s advice. Only they know the full facts of the case and the prospects of beating the offer at trial. Do not risk your family’s finances on the say so of unqualified people on the internet.

If the offer really is pathetic, as you say, I would fight for more. But as a parent from ‘State’ who chose to put my child into independent, six years down the line it is as clear as day to me that private schools are first and foremost businesses and they will go all out to protect themselves. So depending on the size & wealth of the school you might want to take a view on quite how much further you take this.

OP are you legally represented?

Well they must be worried if they want to settle. I'm stubborn so I'd fight as long as I had a good chance of winning. Or take the money and go to the press, but are they saying you need to sign a non disclosure agreement? I'd never agree to that

@FloofyBird not necessarily. Companies often chuck low amounts at people because it was cost more to defend.

Lot of misinformation in the posts above here....let me clear up some important points

1. Indepedant schools cannot violate the equality act, they are held to account the same as state schools. State schools cannot terminate because they are now allowed to. But there is zero difference in law.
2. SENDIST tribunal is a no cost arena. each party pays their own costs so you can't have costs awarded against you and you have no pressure to accept any financial settlement to stop a claim. It is your right to pursue it.
3. You will need a barrister, they will appraise you on your prospects of success - if they are 51%, 60% + then the school faces a disability judgement against it most likely, and the school is sitting on the end of a 10, 20% prospect of success. That's why they have made an offer. You can push their offer up as much as you want. A settlement if your prospects are high is worth a lot to the school to protect their reputation and therefore future income.
4. A judgement will be public and has three major issues - reputationally it is devastating and their demand will plummet (and that's pre 20% VAT). Second issue is they will face a deluge of compliance from ISI, Dept of Education and their owners and the third issue is it opens the pathway for you to commence further litigation which they have no prospect of defending or setting aside. Following a SENDIST judgement you are free to bring breach of contract claims in the court system (county or high court) which the school cannot defeat or defend since disability discrimination is a breach of contract. It then just becomes an argument over value/quantum.
5. You are free to then bring a personal injury claim for your child which is wiorth c£50k
6. If you add up 2, 4, 5 and 6 the legal bill for the school is stratospheric (£500k+)
7. The reputation damage hits quickly and most school's convicted of Equality Act 2010 violations have eventually folded 2-3 after the judgement. School implosion is worth several or tens of millions of pounds.

When you settle they will want to settle everything above in one go. So aim high with a number, it should be in the £100-500k arena.

A sizeable chunk of these independent schools behave abysmally toward SEN children and they need to be held to account. Cost or court conviction is down to each parent's choice.

^^ the irony of this poster thinking there is misinformation in other posts...op, you are not going to be awarded £100-500k.

If you fight on it's because believing what you have now is unjust and that's a perfectly good reason. But it does not mean you'll prevail, either financially or legally. Or that the school will implode due to reputational damage 🙄