An autistic man asked to leave a Sainsbury's store because of his guidance cat said he plans to sue the supermarket.
Ian Fenn joined Alison and Dermot on This Morning to further explain his ongoing legal battle with Sainsbury's. Ian, 51, was removed from a store in Clapham due to his cat, Chloe, who was perched on his shoulder.
Unbeknownst to the security guard who removed Ian, Chloe acts as his assistance pet. Despite explaining the situation to the guard, Ian claims he was removed regardless and plans to take action under The Equality Act 2010.
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Joining This Morning, Ian explained how he has struggled with Autism for years. He said: "I always felt there was something going on because I had difficulty in social communication and found environments very difficult. As a result of that, I would spend a lot of time at home and make plans and shy from them last minute.
"I would very rarely say very much. It had a significant impact on my life. 10 years ago I asked my GP if I could get a diagnosis and he said there's not much point because I'm an adult." Seeking out a private GP, Ian was diagnosed with Autism two years ago.
Alison quizzed Ian if he felt unfairly treated due to both his disability and unusual choice of a cat instead of a dog as an assistance pet, to which Ian confirmed. He said: "The Act essentially gives the responsibility of making reasonable adjustments to service providers to disabled people.
"We all know assistance dogs are allowed in stores., that's convention, and it's accepted. The law does allow in principle for other animals. It also allows for emotional support animals provided the owner is a disabled person and the owner addresses their disability."
Dermot added it was a terrible situation for anyone to find themselves in. Alison followed up by asking if Ian felt like the security guard "had it out for him" despite no other member of staff finding an issue. Ian said: "There were four other security guards at branches who were perfectly happy for me to be in the store.
"I haven't just taken my cat and thrown her on my shoulder I've spent a lot of time training her. She's really smart, she's focused on me. we started with leash training in the garden. We started slow and built what we have today over a long period of time. I contacted them and said 'look I have a cat is there anything I need to do' and they said 'no if there is we will let you know.'"
A case has been brought to Sainsbury's by leading disability lawyer Chris Fry after going through the "pre-action protocol stage". He said: "Fundamentally we have not been able to find a compromise so we had to issue proceedings in the county courts." He added they "hope a trial will happen within the next 12 months".
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