Thomas-Ashley v Drum Housing Association Ltd [2010] EWCA Civ 265 This is probably the biggest single week for dog-related possession claims ever. At this rate, the RSPCA will have to open a housing practice. The brief facts are at para 1 of the Court of...
Care homes, consultation and the DDA
Boyejo & Ors, R (on the application of) v Barnet London Borough Council [2009] EWHC 3261 (Admin) This was the conjoined hearing of an application for Judicial Review of both Barnet and Portsmouth Councils, both JRs bought by Yvonne Hossack and here...
Equality bill to tackle Malcolm judgment
From Usefully Employed (hat-tip) comes the news that the consultation on the Equality Bill proposes the introduction of indirect discrimination as a category, which would help with the horlicks that the Lords made of the 1995 Act in Malcolm v Lewisham: [the...
Comments on Malcolm in the Lords
Oh dear, oh dear. That could have gone better. I'm not going to go into great detail on the five separate judgments from the House of Lords in LB Lewisham v Malcolm [2008] UKHL 43, but I do want to look at where it leaves us and what the problems are with...
Malcolm in brief
LB Lewisham v Malcolm [2008] UKHL 43 Court of Appeal thoroughly and unanimously overturned. The reason for the treatment is the reason in the mind of the landlord, or one which can be imputed to them. So the landlord must be aware or be imputed to be aware...
And now Malcolm!
Before I even have time to get to grips with Weaver, the House of Lords judgment in Malcolm v Lewisham is out. No time even for a quick look now. Hopefully I'll get to post something later on.
Adjourning pending Malcolm in the Lords
One of the three cases mentioned in S v Floyd as forthcoming test of the application of Lewisham v Malcolm on the application of the DDA to possession orders has been heard and adjourned by the Court of Appeal. LB Croydon v Wright [2008] EWCA Civ 607 (not on...
S v Floyd and a disability defence
This post started as a response to a detailed comment by David Giles, Counsel for Floyd in S V Floyd, on my case report. But his comment and the report by Michael Paget mentioned in my last post - to the effect that Floyd contained a clear rejection of the...
DDA and mandatory possession
S v Floyd [2008] EWCA Civ 201 is a Court of Appeal case in which the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 is considered in relation to a mandatory Ground 8 possession claim by a private landlord. In some ways, there is nothing particularly surprising in the...
Oh for heaven's sake!
So, I have a very busy day, with no time for any considering of judgments. Nonetheless, I am puzzling over the import of a couple of recent decisions for some clients. Then, on the way home, scanning printouts of the cases, what does my mobile's web browser...
Time limitation on disability discrimination defence?
This is definitely a specialist question, for which I seek housing people's opinions. A semi-hypothetical situation: A suspended possession order made against the client, a secure tenant, two years ago on grounds of rent arrears. Client didn't attend...
Disability discrimination – the comparator
Following on from the previous post, and the detailed discussions that took place in the comments to that post, I wanted to try to clarify for myself the key element of establishing discrimination, which hopefully may be of use for others. In particular, I...