Published on 12, July, 2020
Unless it’s because I’m male or something. I certainly seem to have been discriminated against.
In 2019, people made false accusations about me and got me kicked out of a netball club in Stirling.
I tried to find another netball club, but the netball clubs I contacted were all reluctant to tell me anything about themselves, and when I asked further questions about them they just stopped replying or whatever. I also contacted the netball club in Stirling about rejoining, because their constitution says I can ask to rejoin at the next general meeting. They ignored me.
I contacted Netball Scotland, and asked them to investigate why I was being treated the way I was by these 4 netball clubs, and was told they’d investigate it.
I turned up at 1 of the netball clubs (they’d told me they weren’t playing because of the Covid 19 pandemic, and they’d tell me when they started playing again, but never did tell me), and played netball with them anyway. I literally only played there 6 times before they found an excuse to get me suspended by Netball Scotland!
In September 2022, I had the police at my flat, saying that I’d contacted someone at netball saying I need some new friends, and asking me not to contact her again. Then the next day, I got an e-mail saying I’d been suspended from Netball Scotland. They didn’t even say anything about why!
Eventually I found out that the reason I was suspended was, among other things, that I’d allegedly “communicated with a club member, Christina [surname removed by mod], that was uninvited and persistent which placed her in a state of fear and alarm”. I’d sent her 1 message on facebook, she’d replied, and then I replied to her message; and I’d only asked perfectly normal things like “How long have you been playing netball?” and “Where do you live?”
1 of the other reasons for the suspension was that I’d chased Natalie up about her investigation about netball clubs not wanting me to join. I’d supposedly failed to show her respect.
This post’s getting a bit long, so to cut a long story short, I had a hearing in March 2023 about it. And all the complaints against me were upheld, and I’ve been suspended by Netball Scotland for 5 years!
They haven’t answered any of my questions such as “What’s wrong with being friendly?” or “What’s wrong with doing to others what I would have them do to me?” or “What’s wrong with asking Natalie to do her job?”.
What happened at Stirling was brought up to demonstrate a “pattern of behaviour”, but nobody even told me what this pattern of behaviour was. The accusations there were completely different.
I’d put a complaint in about Natalie not having done anything about her investigation. Is this the real reason I’ve been suspended?
Oh 2 other questions that have never been answered are “Would I have had the same reaction to contacting Christina if I was a woman?” and “Would I have had the same reaction to contacting Christina if I didn’t have Asperger’s syndrome?”
So I seem to have been discriminated against.
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Basketball =\= netball. The rules are different. Anyway you are assuming there is a basketball team near him.
also whether they gave him special dispensation to play is irrelevant. If they chose to withdraw that dispensation because of something caused by his autism it might be what we call section 15 discrimination. Any unfavourable treatment, even withdrawing some sort of special treatment previously given, can be a section 15 if it’s motivated by an incident that was caused by a disability.
Well it sounds like the final desision to ban him from umbrella organisation was taken in March 2023. So that decision at least is definitely within the six month limit.
also if his autism wasn’t properly addressed in the first instance in the investigation there is a decent chance he can request that it be re-investigated as a form of a reasonable adjustment for his autism. In which case what you would bring the case about would not be the original investigation but the refusal to re-investigate as a reasonable adjustment which again would be something that would’ve happened quite recently.
#notlegaladvice
It’s how they deem it? They banned for 5 years after which he’s probably gonna be too old to rejoin? Discriminatory court claims has a deadline of 6 months after that no action can be taken!!
Yes it would be a grave mistake to wait 5 years to bring a case ... assuming there is a case to bring the clock is definitely ticking.
Professionals actually told me they let ASD people to commit criminal acts so the Criminal courts to deal with - eg. If they’re in prison they’re no longer cost their authority any money!
Yeah that's disgasful. there is definitely more work to be done on this. Luke Beardon has actually written somewhat about this in his thesis I recommend it (mostly chapter 6).
It’s there decision you can’t use his ‘autism’ as a reason he should have known not to communicate in that way?
why is autism in quotes? Anyway discrimination is not a decision organisations are free to make under the law. You understand this right, having discrimination laws that apply to organisations means sometimes they are not allowed to do what they want and some times they are forced to do things they dont want to do. That's how laws work.
I know of several situations whereby NT’s have committed same/similar acts but NEVER get prosecuted but the ASD person is criminally charged as the CPS deem ASD people as “easy convictions”
And this doesn't bother you? You don't think this is something people should be making a noise about. Anyway as it's been described to us I just can't see his behaviour falling under criminal legislation like the protection from harassment act or the miss use of computers act. I'm not at all convinced a reasonable person would consider his actions harassment.