The thorny issue of judging whether a pub customer is drunk or has a disability was raised by our story about a deaf woman who was accused of being "drunk" by a staff member because she "spoke too loud".
Scott Arathoon said he visited the Wheatsheaf Wetherspoon in Ellesmere Port on Wednesday with wife Sally, 47, and other family members following his mum's funeral. The 49-year-old claims Sally went to the bar to order her second alcoholic drink and a coffee for Scott.
While at the bar, Scott claims his wife was allegedly "refused" service by a staff member who reportedly accused Sally of being "drunk" as she "spoke too loud". The dad-of-three said his wife Sally suffers from Ménière's disease, which is a rare disorder and symptoms include vertigo, tinnitus, pressure felt deep inside the ear and hearing loss.
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Due to the rare condition, Sally has lost 55% of her hearing. Scott said this affects Sally's speech, balance and other issues which often means Sally speaks loudly. Speaking to the ECHO, he said: "My wife had gone to get her second drink because she was watching me and making sure I was OK, she didn’t really drink, it was her second drink.
"She had gone to the bar and she looked at me and she looked mortified and she was shaking. She was shaking with her hands because when she gets anxious she shakes with her hands."
These were some of the comments left by ECHO readers after we ran the original story.
Leslie Rees said: "People need to understand disability as it's not always visible."
Christian Unsworth said: "Bar staff should be trained in someone drunk or someone who has a hidden disability."
Robert John Clayton said: "They are quite bad when it comes to things like this. I have epilepsy and I collapsed and had a seizure in one last year. The doorman tried to dragged me outside, he said I was drunk. The funny thing is I was not drinking as it's bad for my epilepsy."
Chanticleer said: "Staff can find themselves in trouble legally if they serve inebriated people."
Olikidda7 said: "Whilst this isn't ideal I suppose it can happen with inexperienced members of staff. I'm sure they didn't intentionally deny her because she was deaf. Clearly a misunderstanding... I do feel sorry the lady was treated like this especially given the difficult circumstances."
Mel Karkar said: "Bar staff are getting cheeky and if you say anything back they are quick to judge you and get 20 bouncers on you and get away with it.. What they forget is without customers they will have no jobs which means no money! Before I get judged on my post, I worked in the catering business for 20 plus years!"
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