Regarding disabled parking

[appendix]

I work for a small company. We have office space in a small building which houses a number of other companies. There is just about enough adequate parking for all employees in terms of number of spaces.
Here is where I think I've messed up. I'm operations manager. The company is too small to have HR (we outsource things like payroll) so often HR adjacent queries end up with me.

We have 2 disabled employees. One (Sue) has significantly mobility limitations and uses a big motorised wheelchair. The other (Lynda) has less significant mobility issues (ie doesn't need a wheelchair, can walk small distances.) Both are have blue badges.

There are 3 disabled spaces in the carpark. One can be discounted as it's always in use by an employee of another company in the building who starts work very early. Out of the remaining 2 only one is big enough to accommodate Sue's needs (electric ramp for a big wheelchair etc). The issue we have is that Lynda insists on parking in it. She gets to work earlier than Sue who has childcare limitations and always parks there. It's causing a lot of frustration and ill will, especially as the other non wheelchair sized space is actually closer to the entrance, so it seems a perverse choice.

There has been a lot of grumbling among staff about this. It was especially bad a few days ago when Sue had to call for assistance - she had to get out of her car at the entrance and a colleague had to park her vehicle for her. Lynda sits watching this. Other staff members have spoken to her and asked if she could park in the other, closer space but she refuses.

Note- Sue and Lynda have clashed a bit over the years- there's only one disabled loo on our floor and yet they seem to always need it at the same time etc. I've been reliably informed that Lynda won't park close to the entrance because then her start and leave times will be visible to everyone- the other larger space is around a bend and can be accessed via a side door so her in and outs are not visible.

Anyway, we have spoken multiple times to the people who own the offices. They give no shits. The car park is apparently compliant in terms of spaces and they're not prepared to do anything more.

Our company owner has now said that whichever employee gets in first needs to park next to her reserved space and let reception know. When Sue arrives the person in the space next to the reserved one nips out, moves their car and Sue parks across both spaces. Owner then just parks where she can find a space.

It's not ideal especially in the rain. It's caused massive ill will towards Lynda who has just come to me and said she feels she's being bullied due to her disability. (She's not being included in lunch orders or social stuff organised by staff themselves, although she is fully included in terms of her job.) Honestly the company owner doesn't feel particularly warm towards her.

I'm not a HR person. I felt that as she wasn't being excluded in terms of work etc there's not a lot I can do about people liking her and I pretty much told her that. I was talking to a friend about it though and they said we could actually be in trouble for not including her in lunches/ social things, especially as it's because of issues caused by a disability. (She's invited to all work organised events, just not informal staff drinks / lunches/ chats/ coffee rounds organised by the staff)

I'm going to suggest getting some HR advice but was I wrong?

This.

Utterly.

It actually sounds ok to the "deserving" disabled, but the discriminatory language in the last few OP posts is horrific.

When 2 people are entitled to use certain facilities you absolutely cannot decide one person is sufficiently disabled and the other isnt. You can't allow bullying on the basis of deserving disabilities and non deserving disabilities either. It's a disabilities law suit waiting to happen.

Please get an expert in.

Exactly! And let’s not forget that Lynda can actually walk to the other toilets.

Then you are ignorant of how disability can work.

Or Lynda is just a CF that is bullying Sue, but nobody is allowed to call it out because of this ridiculous notion that nobody can ever understand disability.

You have decided this to be the case. You have split disabilities into deserving disabilities and undeserving.

This is disability discrimination. You cannot victimise someone on the basis of their disability (or lack of it) in your eyes

Not deserving or undeserving at all but if only one toilet can accommodate a wheelchair user, it seems really cheeky to head for that toilet when you see a wheelchair user coming. Likewise, if you don’t need a ramp to get yourself and your wheelchair out of the car, why would you choose that particular space? I would have thought that someone with a disability would be more understanding of others
with disabilities.

The criteria for blue badges has changed recently and it is not only for mobility. People can still get one if they have a variable conditons. I suggest you read up on eligibility criteria. YOU may not see their disability but that doesn’t mean they don’t have one.

You are aware you can be entitled to a blue badge and be able to run?

Blue badge can be issued for mental disabilities where high levels of supervision are required. Or indeed for physical difficulties where engagement in physical activity may be considerably risky or cause significant risk of harm.

EG DS might well be seen "running" or moving very suddenly to the toilet (ironically also as a result of his disabilities), this does not in anyway reduce his entitlement to a blue badge I. Any way shape or form. Oh and DWP are fully aware.

There is clearly always more to be understood about disability discrimination however much you think you know

Accessible toilets aren’t just for wheelchair users.

They can have guard/grab rails, flat access, a sink inside, facilities to empty bags, audio description, emergency cords and a whole load of other things that Lynda might need just as much as Sue needs space.

No. The business needs to demolish the building and rebuild it with infinite disabled toilets and infinite disabled parking spaces so that every disabled person can simultaneously park and shit.

Any suggestion that Lynda should show common courtesy to Sue and not take the only suitable parking space or rush to occupy the toilet in an attempt to make Sue soil herself is the worst kind of ableism.

🙄

According to the OP, Linda has a blue badge because she's only able to walk short distances.

Stop trying to bring in all these red herrings in an attempt to distract from what a horrible bully Lynda is.

Do those apply to this specific situation?

The lengths that you're going to in order to excuse some petty awful workplace bullying is weird.

Problem is the site and facilities. Any blue badge holder can use any parking space unless it’s clearly marked for one person which this isn’t.

Lynda? Comes in the side door people say so she can skive? But is that closer to her desk? Her desk also sounds closer to the loos than Sues. Sounds like she has anxiety around toileting if when she’s worried she won’t have access for 20/30minutes she goes to make sure she can.

You need better facilities, more better parking and for all toilets to actually be accessible if you only have three anyway.

We don’t know why Lynda suddenly needs the bigger toilet but can if she must use a smaller one. Maybe part of her disability is continence related, maybe she has terrible gastrointestinal issues, maybe she’s been fitted with a stoma. All things you might not

so maybe Lynda might shit her knickers while sue is in the bathroom while Sue has perfect bladder and bowl control and needs the hoist though as she is a wheelchair user. Both disabilities affected each in different ways.

. Maybe Lynda is just a cunt who knows. Maybe Sue actually is the arse and loves getting the team to exclude Lynda by pointing out everything she can about Lynda.

we need a Jeremy kyle lie Detector and a pip assist for sure to work this out… I joke.

Exactly. I have an invisible illness and mobility issues. I guess you’d think I was like Lynda if you saw me. I also have IBS with urgency. Sometimes I can use regular loos at a push but more often than not I need an accessible one. Usually for balance and that it’s better for support when on the toilet and when wiping.

But of course based on the comments on here, I’d be thought of as being a cunt for doing so. It’s absolutely vile in this day and age that people are so ableist. Sadly not surprising though, especially on MN.

Do those NOT apply to this specific situation?

The lengths that you're going to in order to excuse some petty awful workplace bullying (against Lynda) is weird.

Fixed it for you.

Ibs is bloody horrible and it such a fob off by doctors. It’s basically we don’t know and don’t care to search further. 10 seconds can make all the difference between new clothes and not. I’d yeet a random child out the way to not shit myself in public 😅

Exactly!!!

Sorry I spoke out of turn. I should, of course, be on Lynda’s side in all of this. It’s selfish of Sue to not want be humiliated by asking people to help her in and out of her car. It’s also selfish of her for not wanting to potentially experience further humiliation by soiling herself because Lynda has darted to the bog as soon as she spotted Sue was on the way. Sue should WFH if she’s not happy for a non-wheelchair user to use the parking space with the ramp.

You remind me of someone who stopped me when DS was young and we had parked in a disability space....

Ds had got out the car and was spinning, I was just opening up the boot of the car...

"You can't park there is a space for disabled badge holders"

I pointed to the badge. "What like that?"

"no no people with real disabilities, who use a wheelchair"

"What like this one here?" Pointing to the wheelchair I was just removing from the boot.

He has look at DS admittedly very active movement and made assumptions.

Ironically it was the same location that was falling over themselves to get out the ramp for us 5 mins later after he had collapsed and was totally wheelchair bound.

Or the time I had a nasty note on my windscreen because I'd forgotten to put the blue badge out, ironically because DS was unexpectedly ill that day and I hadn't put his wheelchair in and I was trying to get in and out quickly to collect his medicine before he collapsed properly.

Thing is just because you can't appreciate why someone might need something, doesn't mean they don't. It's also doesn't mean they have to explain their disability to you.

Both are disability discrimination

You don't seem to understand disability though if you think the only reason someone needs the disabled loo is because they're in a wheelchair or they need a disabled space is so they can get a wheelchair out...

The toilet thing does sound like Lynda is bullying Sue. How far is it to the normal toilets? If she is able to use the normal toilets I think you can reasonably make the argument that she will never have to wait because Sue is in the only disabled toilet because she has an alternative that she can use. Sue on the other hand has to wait because Lynda is deliberately blocking the only toilet she can use. I think you need to find a way to come down on her hard without opening yourself up to a discrimination suit.

I do wonder if she doesn't like Sue stealing her disability spotlight by being more disabled. I spent a lot of time on disability forums when I first became a wheelchair user and discovered that some people are genuinely very competitive about disability. There's a lot of toxic disabled people around. I think disability can make you very bitter and if you were already prone to being a bit self centered it can make you really nasty.

I am really incredulous at a full time wheelchair user being a daily mail fan. Talk about sleeping with the enemy! 😮

I don’t think that at all, but it’s the only loo that can accommodate a wheelchair. Lynda heads for the loo when she sees Sue is already on her way.

They aren’t red herrings. OP doesn’t know the full extent of her disabilities. It’s very hard to get a blue badge and you don’t have to disclose why you have it to your workplace at all.

Being able to only walk a short distance can be just one of a whole host of reasons why someone might need a blue badge and access to a disabled loo.

OP clearly has issues with Lynda and is putting only her view across

Lynda is also definitely being bullied at work, regardless of if she is also being a cow to Sue

So because I think the space for the ramp should be for the person in the wheelchair, my comment reminds you of this? Because I think Lynda can use the disabled bay without the ramp, as she’s not a wheelchair user, my comment reminds you of this?