French court fines EasyJet for disabled discrimination

A French court on Friday fined low-cost airline EasyJet 70,000 euros ($90,000) for refusing to allow three wheelchair-bound passengers to board its planes, citing security reasons. "This is a landmark ruling," said Patrick de la Grange, lawyer for the plaintiffs and for the French Paralysed Association (APF). "The court found that there was no prevailing security reason. This is an economic model that's being punished, that of low-cost, with cost reductions, the aim is to have as few personnel as possible," he said. EasyJet lawyer Philippe Van der Meulen said: "We are disappointed and sad." "The company denies having had any discriminatory intention whatsoever. We respected European rules," he said, adding that the airline would decide whether to appeal or not once it had seen the detailed judgement. The three passengers were barred from three EasyJet flights from Paris' Roissy-Charles de Gaulle hub between November 2008 and January 2009. The British-based company said it was in compliance with British and European law when it refused to let the unaccompanied disabled passengers board for security reasons. EasyJet said in a statement that it was surprised by the judgement. "Every day, EasyJet carries 1,000 reduced-mobility passengers... the company never had the intention of discriminating against a single one of its passengers," it said. During the trial last month, prosecutor Abdelkrim Grini said that EasyJet had "an aggressive commercial policy of reducing operating costs as much as possible and if for that you have to have a discriminatory policy, too bad". The court, at Bobigny in the Paris suburbs, also ordered the airline to pay each of the disabled people 2,000 euros in compensation. EasyJet is to appear in court in Paris to face similar charges in another case in March.