‘I was kicked out of bar because of my wheelchair’
I was kicked out of bar because of my wheelchair
An 18-year-old woman from Oldham was asked to leave a nightclub after staff claimed her wheelchair posed a safety risk, an event she called “embarrassing and infuriating.” The incident occurred at Club Tropicana in Manchester’s Gay Village on Saturday night, where she arrived with a companion. Within minutes, a bar manager instructed her to exit, sparking a confrontation that she shared on Instagram.
“It’s not okay to be removed from bars because you are disabled and different to other people. If they can be in there then why shouldn’t we,” she stated in the video.
Maddie Haining, who had visited several other venues in the city that evening, claimed security personnel had initially allowed her and her friend to stay. However, after her friend left to get a drink, staff returned with the decision to ask her to leave. When she requested to speak to the manager, he responded with what she described as “horribly rude” behavior throughout the interaction.
“I asked ‘how was I a safety risk?’ If I was a safety risk they wouldn’t have let me in in the first place. They wouldn’t explain why, and then the story changed to that I was a fire risk,” she explained.
To challenge the decision, Maddie displayed the 2010 Equality Act on her phone, emphasizing that wheelchair users cannot be excluded based on fire hazards without proper accommodations. “I said ‘you can’t make me leave because I’m in a wheelchair – this is discrimination,’ but he wasn’t having any of it. He just kept repeating himself and not acknowledging anything,” she added.
Club Tropicana’s response
In a statement, the Canal Street club acknowledged the incident but noted they had not been directly contacted by Maddie. “We have not been contacted directly by the complainant but we have been made aware of the incident,” the club said. Manchester City Council confirmed it is investigating the matter following her complaint to its licensing committee.
Legal implications
Under the Equality Act, venues are required to provide reasonable adjustments for disabled individuals, such as ramps or evacuation plans that ensure accessibility. Refusing entry due to disability constitutes a breach of the law. Maddie mentioned the manager threatened to pass on any fines the venue incurred to her, adding to her frustration.
She eventually chose to leave but requested staff details for a formal complaint. “The whole thing was really embarrassing. I was in a bar with my friends and kept getting security sent over,” she said. “It was infuriating as I showed them the law and they had not taken any of it on board.” Maddie, who has lived with a disability for nearly five years, expressed her confidence in her rights, highlighting her experience with the legal framework.
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