How can local coffee shop navigate this without falling foul of Equality Act.

[JenniferBooth]

A local coffee shop i go to regularly has a customer who is a dad (not single dad as i previously thought) with a daughter with SEN. On different occasions she has taken food from other peoples tables, Smashed cups and the latest Picked up a bucket of water which had been used to clean the floor and threw it everywhere including over a table. Barista told me she saw the girl eyeing up the mop and bucket but "i wasnt quick enough" Surely it was her father who wasnt quick enough. Its dangerous. What if the water had gone into the electrics. The staff here are lovely. Is there away of navigating this or do they just have to continue to deal with it.

That is an accident waiting to happen all right. What if she'd picked up a pot of boiling hot tea and thrown that over someone?

The employees are entitled to a safe working environment, the customers likewise, and their insurers would be horrified if they allowed this child to continue to run amok in the cafe.

I think this is a H&S issue not an SEN issue, and the business should talk to the father along those lines, he needs to be in control of his child but equally why was a bucket of water in reach of customers anyway? Mopping should be done out of hours it shouldn’t have been there.

I agree its a health and safety issue.

Because she is non verbal but does scream. Shes about nine i think

WTH is her DF doing whilst she is away from the table picking up other customers food?!
We never took eyes off ours for a second and had them constantly entertained to prevent them bothering other people -it was exhausting! he sounds like he’s just letting her run amok.
They need to tell him that, for H&S and the comfort of other customers, he needs to supervise his child at all times. Be prepared for a ‘they discriminated against my child’ SM post though.

They can still ban customers based on conduct and danger to others even if the child has SEN. Taking food from other customers has happened multiple times. Smashed cups the business probably has to accept as a foreseeable and acceptable danger if she didn't pick up lots of them and lob them at the ground, since cups do get smashes by customers accidentally. Bucket of water sounds like it was left out - if she could pick it up, it was probably too much in the open and others could have tripped over it or crashed into it, so H&S hazard and failing. But the shop can still ban customers even with the protected characteristic of disability if it's a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim.

What's the dad doing? Why does he keep bringing this child to the cafe multiple times in what seems like a short time, given her actions there?

Its all female staff

No Why.

Are you posting on behalf of the staff?
If you're asking this as a customer, I suppose you could take your custom elsewhere and then the team might think about addressing this reckless father as he would be losing them money.

Women as seen as the nurturers and carers so thats the reason IMO

Why? What were YOU thinking?

How? There are a lot of men out there who will look around for the nearest female help when left looking after a child on their own.

Could the cafe staff speak politely to the Father about their concerns regarding his inability to control his child’s behaviour and therefore endangering staff and other customers? I think having a gentle chat with him about their concerns regarding health and safety wouldn't break inequality laws. Especially if it is worded carefully.

@lateloverofcelery Have you time travelled? that was not two months ago

What does this mean, are you a member of staff.

No im not a member of staff

If ban them, and make it clear it’s the father behaviour not the child’s.

Why are you asking? What's it to you if you're not staff or you aren't going to pass on ideas to them based on the replies here. Are you trying to get at whether you should complain or raise this with the staff?