Delivery driver ‘publicly humiliated’ by worker
HE USED HIS BLUE BADGE TO PARK IN A DISABLED BAY AT ASDA
A DELIVERY driver claims he was “publicly humiliated” while picking up an order from a supermarket.
Peter O’regan, who is a selfemployed delivery driver for Ubereats, used his blue badge to park in a disabled parking bay at Asda in Benton, while he picked up an order from the Mcdonald’s restaurant inside.
The 48-year-old, who struggles to walk more than 20 metres, said he was confronted in the shop by an Asda employee who told him he could not park his Citroen C4 in the space.
He said that when he explained he had a blue badge the female worker who had pulled him up in front of other staff and customers told him she hadn’t seen it. She then walked away and failed to apologise.
Peter said he has since been spoken to by a general manager at Asda who apologised profusely and said they needed to investigate the matter.
The dad-of-three, who lives in Backworth, North Tyneside, said he was left angry and shaken by the confrontation on Monday, July 29.
Peter said the staff member deliberately blocked his path and held her arms out in front of herself, to prevent him from getting to Mcdonald’s. He said: “It was almost like when a policeman stops you, It was like that. I was thinking what have I done?
“She had been told by a customer that I had parked in the disabled parking so she decided to come and tell me I have no right to park there.
“She advised me to stop and remove my car from the disabled parking as I had no right to be there. I pointed out that I had a disabled badge and it was clearly displayed in the front of the vehicle.
“I did say ‘Well I have got a blue badge. Have you seen it?’ She said
‘No I didn’t.’ She just walked off, no apology, nothing. I could see both staff and customers watching me.
“I was visibly upset and left angry as I had been singled out and publicly humiliated.
“She had come to challenge me and not even apologised. She had done it in such a confrontational way.”
Peter, who got his blue badge in June this year, said he suffers from chronic pain as well as osteoarthritis in both hips. He said he also sustained injuries to both shoulders and his right arm in a car accident last year.
He said: “Somebody reversed their car into my car door when I was putting my daughter in there. I can basically walk a maximum of 20 metres. You can tell I’ve got a mobility problem with walking. It takes a lot of effort for me to walk.”
Peter, who also receives personal independence payment (PIP), said he returned to his car, put the delivery order inside, collected his blue badge and went back into the store to complain.
He said: “I could feel people watching me. I was at the point of almost shaking. I was thinking why are all these people watching me. As soon as I got to customer service the gentleman said ‘I can see that was really badly done.’ So the staff knew what was going on.”
Peter said he asked to speak to a manager and another Asda worker came to speak to him.
She said: “She was very unapologetic and tried to put the blame on me saying ‘Delivery drivers use the disabled bays despite not being entitled to them. Well you’re probably one of the few who are entitled.’
“They were making the situation worse. She wasn’t even apologising!
“I pointed out that it was disability discrimination. It shouldn’t have happened. I walked out of there completely deflated, visibly shaken and upset.
“Every time I go into a shop now I’m constantly looking over my shoulder.”
An Asda spokesperson said: “After receiving a complaint from a customer that a driver was misusing a disabled bay, we made the honest mistake of not noticing the driver’s blue badge before looking into this complaint. We apologised to this customer as soon as they made us aware of this mistake and have since contacted him to discuss his concerns.”