Should Player with Disability Be Banned at Bingo Hall...You be the Judge.

Leo Leisure Bingo in Eastbourne banned Louis Bunn 23 because he has Tourette’s syndrome. Last Sunday during a game of Bingo Louis was told to never come back after his tics started.

‘A member of staff was very profane to me and this made my tics worse,’ he said.

‘When I confronted this person because my vocal tics got worse I told him I couldn’t help it as I was the one being warned and I was the person being discriminated against.’

But according to owner Peter Brown he was not thrown out because of his disability.

‘I am aware of his condition and have never had a problem with it in any way,’ he added.

‘But we’d had a complaint the week before that he had jumped out of his seat and got very aggressive towards an old lady.

‘He was aggressive to me, my female members of staff and I was sworn and spat at. I’ve never been spoken to like that.’

Mr. Bunn released a video telling his side of the story:

Do you think he should of been thrown out of bingo hall and banned from every returning?

hard to choose, think the ol biddies put xtra juice in their cuppas and slightest thing will set them off.

if it were a bunch of 18-40 yrs they would not take it personal . Just bizzness 1\200 is no brainer,if it were a hawking they would just leave him as he would not be a physical threat is their eyes. Sad but true

It's tough to judge for somebody who has not been there when the incident happened. Aggressive behaviour can't be fully justified by the Tourette's syndrome though.

Perhaps a month ban might have been a better decision.  The guy surely has enough on his plate as it is.

I agree with the above post. Why ban someone from playing bingo because of their disability?Unless  there is something wrong with their behavior, it would be partial to discriminate against them like this.

It is tough for me to say since I don't know what happened exactly. But if he was aggressive physically towards other players, then yes, perhaps there's no excuse for that.

We may not know exactly what took place but in general someone with Tourettes can be disruptive in a public setting do to involuntary vocals. That is not pointing out or discriminating against a person who has this disability simply a fact it could be very disruptive especially in a very quiet room full players during a game session.

What if management said ....hey buddy sorry but due to your disability it is causing quite a distraction and i have to ask you to leave. Would that be terribly wrong to do? Or would the person with Tourettes be wrong for attending a public quiet place like a bingo session knowing his involuntary tic could happen at any time?

I think it could be a really difficult call because this person should have the same rights as everyone else and we have become such a society ultra sensitivity to discrimination of any kind. But if it hurts a business due to the disruption what is a proprietor to do?

That's a tough call. I really don't know on this one. Yes, it's disruptive but he can't help it. I feel like he should not go to places that require quiet.

From my point of view, the bloke might be blaming his actions on his disability, yet I am not buying that as an acceptable excuse for spitting at someone or otherwise acting aggressive. It is those actions which are the reason he was barred, no doubt. If you were to ask them if a person with tourettes syndrome was welcome to play there, they would almost certainly tell you ABSOLUTELY, NO QUESTION. If this persons disability genuinely does cause him to shout abuse, assault others, and spit at people who question this behaviour, he probably should not attend a venue where the atmosphere and standard environment will provoke his disability to manifest itself - I am not saying he should not be entitled to enjoy such entertainment but clearly he should engage in therapy to assist him in controlling his behaviour such that is socially acceptable before putting people in a situation where they have no option but to remove him as a result of his behaviour.

I agree with ya wscalley considering his ticks are swear words. I know someone with Tourette's and it's nothing like that. No shouting or nasty language.

Apparently they can have all kinds of ticks and I am sympathetic with regards this, but if my 'ticks' included spitting at people or lashing out physically I would make the decision myself not to put others in an uncomfortable situation of having to deal with me, as they should not have to put up with that kind of treatment any more than somebody should have to put up with being discriminated against.

NO! Everyone should be able to play BINGO. If that's the case BINGO just ought to have a black and white separate sections.