Assistive Listening Knowledge Base
  • Article (first-person case account)

I sued the Courts… and won

From https://assistivelisteningknowledgebase.org/evidence/paulley-2015-court-mediation/ · record checked 13 October 2026

  • Doug Paulley
  • Doug Paulley’s blog

Independent (claimant’s own account; funding not stated)

Summary

A claimant’s account of two disputes with the Ministry of Justice distinguishes an earlier settlement from a later mixed Equality Act outcome concerning mediation and hearing access in England.

Key findings

  • The post was published on 6 May 2015 and says the trial and verdict occurred that day. It identifies Paulley v Ministry of Justice, Deputy District Judge Branchflower and Harrogate County Court; the underlying access incidents occurred at Leeds County Court.
  • Paulley reports an earlier settlement, including compensation, after a hearing with several access problems, among them no hearing loop. The account does not state the compensation amount or any binding requirement to install a loop.
  • For the later mediation, Paulley reports that a loop was not set up, a directional listener was offered, and a larger loop kit arrived but was not installed during the allotted session. The mediator moved to sit directly in front of Paulley, and the mediation succeeded.
  • According to Paulley’s paraphrase of the judgment, most complaints failed because face-to-face mediation eventually occurred, the alternative room was accessible and the mediator could be heard.
  • Paulley reports an Equality Act 2010 finding of discrimination and damages for injury to feelings over the service’s initial insistence on telephone mediation and refusal to consider alternatives. The post gives no numeric damages award and reports no order to install a loop.

Limits

A participant’s account, not a judgment transcript or independently checked court order. The page gives a later update of 19 April 2018 without explaining changes. The reported success concerned the initial refusal of an alternative to telephone mediation; it must not be described as a court victory requiring a loop. Neither settlement terms nor exact damages could be checked against an order.

Read the original

www.kingqueen.org.uk/i-sued-the-courts-and-won

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Cited in

Cite this source

Doug Paulley. I sued the Courts… and won. Doug Paulley’s blog. 6 May 2015. https://www.kingqueen.org.uk/i-sued-the-courts-and-won/ (accessed 13 October 2026).

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