Resolved complaint (283) about disability discrimination in goods, services and facilities

About the complaint

The complainant has mast cell activation disorder and arthritis and experiences chronic pain and other symptoms. He alleged the respondent complaint handling agency declined his requests for adjustments to accommodate his disability, including communication in writing and additional time to enable him to process and consider information. He alleged the agency did not allocate a new case officer when he raised concerns about the way the agency was handling his complaint.

The agency acknowledged the impact the complaint process had on the complainant, but denied disability discrimination. The agency said it did not reallocate his complaint to a different case officer to avoid delays in progressing the matter.

The complaint was resolved by conciliation with an agreement that the agency offer the requested adjustments for the remainder of the complaint process and reallocate the matter to a team leader. The agency also undertook to write to the complainant acknowledging the impact of the complaint process.

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