Quote:
Originally Posted by RichardCoulter
They do* as they are private property.
* Unless the denial of entry is related to a person being in one of the Protected Groups. Some stores have now started a no ifs, no buts, no mask=no entry policy. However, if someone is exempt and refused admission, this could well be a breach of the Equality Act and stores are laying themselves open to legal action.
It doesn't help that the Government haven't created a way for such people to easily provide proof that they are exempt (nor are they required to do so).
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The store has some leeway here because mask-wearing is now written into law. A prosecution would be difficult. Much would depend on how the initial challenge was presented and what the store did with the response. I suspect that Morrisons is not simply going to let someone in if they claim to have asthma or a hidden disability because the kind of people who think they're above the law are also not above lying through their teeth to get their way. They might on the other hand offer to set up a home delivery, click and collect or other such help which would make a charge of discrimination even harder to make stick. I suspect most if not all people with a genuine reason not to wear a mask wold be happy for the assistance, unless of course they were on a militant quest to catch the store out and bring a malicious prosecution.
My personal experience of this (and I know personal perception of disability isn't everything) is that you can usually spot who are the Karens and the angry 50-something Freemen-on-the-land, and who those with genuine issues are. A lot of people voluntarily availed themselves of sunflower lanyards early in the first lockdown.