Access to debit/card readers - The Commission des droits de la personne et
des droits de la jeunesse settles complaint with a Pharmaprix franchisee

MONTREAL, July 14 2010 /CNW Telbec/ - Following a complaint lodged before the Commission des droits de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse, an agreement has been reached with Pharmaprix retail stores to make debit/card readers more readily accessible to the disabled.

In January, a wheelchair-bound Montrealer filed a discrimination complaint before the Commission after she was unable to access the debit/card reader at her local Pharmaprix store. Because the debit/card reader was connected to an immovable metal base, it had to be unlocked by a Pharmaprix representative so that the complainant could enter her PIN code in a secure manner.

An agreement reached late last month with Pharmaprix specifies that it will send a notice to all its franchised retailers in Québec asking them to take the necessary steps to make all debit/card readers more accessible to the disabled by keeping them connected through a cable.

As a result of the Commission's mediation efforts, the Montrealer dropped her complaint.

"I would like to congratulate the parties for quickly reaching this agreement. They both demonstrated their goodwill to solve the issue cooperatively," the president of the Commission Gaétan Cousineau said today.

He added that the Commission hopes this agreement should serve as an example for other retail operators who have not yet made their debit/card readers accessible to the disabled.

In 2009-2010, the Commission opened 178 files as a result of complaints of disability-based discrimination, which represented 25% of its caseload and the second highest number of complaints.

For more information on the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms, please visit www.cdpdj.qc.ca.

    
    Contact

    Julie Lajoye
    514 873-5146 or 1 800 361-6477, ext. 230
    [email protected]
    

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For further information: Julie Lajoye, 514 873-5146, 1 800 361-6477, ext. 230, [email protected]