The Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) has today (15 April 2020) issued legal proceedings under the Disability Discrimination Ordinance (DDO), Cap. 487 in the District Court, on behalf of a minor (the Claimant), who is represented by his father. The Claimant is a patient of Tourette syndrome. His symptoms include motor tics, such as involuntary movements of wrist, shoulder, head and rolling eyes. The Claimant’s main allegations are that the four Respondents who were his classmates at the material time, had harassed him on account of his disabilities. The Respondents often mimicked his motor tics caused by Tourette syndrome and made insulting verbal remarks about his tics in front of other students.

The Claimant and his father have obtained an anonymity order from the Court to protect their identities. They are identified as “B” and “LKB” respectively in the Notice of Claim.

Under the DDO, harassment refers to any unwelcome conduct on account of a person's disability where it can be reasonably anticipated that the person would be offended, humiliated or intimidated, such as insulting remarks and offensive jokes about a person's disability. It is unlawful for a student of an education establishment to harass a person with a disability who is also a student of that education establishment.

Students with disabilities often face harassment and bullying in their schools. By taking this case to Court, the EOC hopes to raise public awareness on protection for students with disabilities from disability harassment in education establishments under the DDO, and to remind the public that disability harassment is unlawful.

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Equal Opportunities Commission
15 April 2020