My name is Simon Arnold and I was involved in a serious road traffic accident in 2006. As a result, I suffered a spinal cord injury and was rendered tetraplegic. Subsequently, I use a power wheelchair for my mobility and due to the limited function in my hands I rely on a network of friends, family and carers to help me perform common everyday tasks that I used to take for granted.

Yet, I was determined to return to work and regain some of my independence. Pre-injury I was qualified in aerospace engineering, a career that was no longer suitable. I therefore focused on my remaining ability and sought the qualifications necessary to become an advocate, completing the academic stages of my training which included a Law degree, the Bar Professional Training Course and a Masters in International Law and Human Rights.

My passion was to help those who had also suffered similar debilitating injuries, although proceeding this, I had to complete the final stage of my training known as pupillage. Therefore, I was very pleased to secure a position within a solicitor’s firm that specialised in personal injury claims and agreed to appoint me to the position of pupil barrister.

The solicitors firm publicly promoted my appointment in press releases with particular emphasis on the severity of my disability and the fact that they were a personal injury firm. This all created a lot of positive exposure for this law firm showing that it was committed to advancing the careers of the people who could potentially be their clients.  All of this positive exposure was generated using my disability. Related articles appeared in national and local newspapers, and my circumstances also generated interest from television broadcasting companies who wanted to conduct interviews and film my progress (Please see links https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/tetraplegic-lawyer-takes-place-at-bar-26ms27nk8 and https://www.counselmagazine.co.uk/articles/simon-arnold-when-life-goes-full-circle ). 

Prior to my appointment I was generating significant profits and had been praised for my performance, however the appointment of a new senior manager and subsequent partner of the firm resulted in repeated and systematic disability discrimination. Additionally, once the firm believed they had exhausted my marketing potential and less than 72 hours before officially starting my pupillage they withdrew from their agreement to provide funding.

I could not continue to work in a hostile environment in a position that had radically changed and was left no alternative but to commence legal proceedings in the form of an employment tribunal to challenge the discrimination itself and also the harassment that resulted in the failure to appoint because of my disability and the use of my disability as an advertising tool.

I am therefore seeking to raise £1200.00 to cover the cost of securing legal representation for the preliminary hearing, which will allow me to establish effectively the issues relating to disability discrimination and more specifically the nuances of the intimidatory and discriminatory practices that this firm has used to promote their own offerings.  I am hopeful of raising more funds to help me obtain legal advice to conduct the rest of this litigation.

I feel like this company used my disability to create profit and positive good will on the promise of a funding a low-cost pupillage.  However, they then withdrew this appointment once it had used me for its marketing purposes. 

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