This was told to me yesterday by my very close and dear friend of 39 years. She went to the races on cup day which would have been a huge effort for her. She suffers profoundly from acute anxiety disorder and went with her friend as going alone wasn't an option. She is a christian and is a very non intimidating type of person. She had one cider and with all the people and noise around started having a panic attack. A security guard told her she had to leave as she was intoxicated. She explained that she wasn't drunk but was escorted out of the racecourse by 8 security guards in a totally over the top display which drew much attention and made her condition even worse as now everybody was watching her. She is an approved manager of a licenced premises and quite rightly asked why she was judged as being intoxicated when she had only one drink. She was denied any opportunity to explain her condition and in my opinion there was no duty of care exercised at all. Standard procedure would typically be sitting the person down, giving them water and explaining clearly the reasoning for the ejection and making sure the patrons wellbeing was of paramount importance. She asked the police at the entrance to perform a sobriety test and they denied to do so.
This has all been detailed in a formal complaint to the racecourse management. I have read the complaint and it is very well written and to the point.
Now she has been receiving calls from the security company using terms such as solicitor, making false accusations and more. She just wants it to go away and i completely understand why. However, as a former approved manager and a mental health sufferer, I cant help but feel that a miscarriage of justice has taken place. Is this discrimination, lack of duty of care or even incompetency and neglect by the security guard and therefore by the security company.
I dont like seeing the little person get steamrolled by the company, who have been intimidating, over the top and unprofessional.
Is there an act, code, procedure or precedent that exists that will protect this individual and recognise and maybe even compensate the wrong that has occurred in this case.
Any feedback is very welcome and appreciated.
