Autistic man who taught himself law wins discrimination case against Virgin Active after instructor calls him 'stupid'

An autistic man who taught himself law so he could represent himself in court has won his disability discrimination case against a gym after an instructor called him “stupid”.

Ketan Aggarwal was awarded damages from Virgin Active after a court agreed he had been discriminated against because of his medical condition.

The 30-year-old Londoner, who was diagnosed with the condition as an adult, was insulted in a spin class in 2015 when he agreed with a fellow cyclist the music was too slow.

This prompted the instructor at the Stockley Park branch, to yell, “don’t tell me how to do my job”, Mr Aggarwal said in legal documents.

He added that after the class ended, the instructor humiliated him in front of the other 30 other people by calling him “stupid” twice down the phone.

“He started shouting across the room and told me my opinion was b******* in the middle of a class," he said. “I stayed quiet but it made me feel horrible. He singled me out even though I only agreed with someone else. I believe this is because of my autism.”

Mr Aggarwal said he complained to the gym, but when it failed to take action against the instructor, he turned to the law.

He went to the library and spent hours studying online articles about discrimination and consulting case law to prepare for the case, which was heard in Uxbridge County Court.

Once Virgin Active received his legal paperwork, they apparently dismissed the instructor and offered to pay Mr Aggarwal £94 in compensation – an offer he rejected.

Mr Aggarwal successfully argued his own case and Virgin Active was ordered to pay him £1200 in compensation and costs of £190.00.

The gym was also told to apologise and to review its training procedure for staff.

He said after the case: “He called me stupid twice. Calling someone with a mental disability 'stupid' is similar to mocking a guy in a wheelchair. If I was that stupid I wouldn't have been able to successfully pursue the claim against a solicitor of a billion pound company. It was two years coming and it was hard work.

He added: “I'm not a legal professional and I had to do a huge amount of paperwork. I had to live in the library, picking up law from the books, and getting templates for submitting paperwork from the internet. It was worth it though.

“It wasn't about the money, it was about the principle.”

Mr Aggarwal said before he was diagnosed with autism, his condition used to make him feel anxious and angry, but since understanding it, he has taught himself to walk away from conflict.

A Virgin Active spokesperson said: “We believe in offering a welcoming, inclusive and friendly environment for our members. We are very sorry that on this occasion we failed to do that, and are committed to reviewing our ongoing training to ensure the experience for all members is of the highest quality.”