Who am I? 

My name is Moammer Nasser and I’m 41 years old. In June 2017 my wife and four children went on a holiday to Butlins, Minehead. I'm raising money to support my legal action of discrimination against Butlins for not allowing my daughter on any fairground rides because she was wearing a headscarf.   

What is the case?

The first three days of our holiday went fine. We were able to use the fairground rides and all the facilities on site freely. 

However, on the fourth day, whilst my 16 year old daughter and I were waiting in the queue for the Dodgems ride, the ride attendant stopped us and said my daughter wasn’t allowed on the ride as she was wearing a head scarf. 

I disagreed with him and asked to speak to the manager. He called the rides supervisor and the fairgrounds manager and both said that it was a health and safety hazard and as a result we weren’t allowed on any rides. 

My daughter was crying and people were staring at us, making us feel humiliated and like if we had done something wrong. 

I explained to them We had been here since Monday and used all the fairgrounds rides without any issues. 

After asking to speak to the manager and venue manager we got the same answer. At this stage, my wife and children were in tears and I was very frustrated. I asked for the policy, he gave us a copy of the fairgrounds policy and the policy quoted related to anyone who “has an injury or disability.” But no one in my family had a disability nor an injury. As a result, we had to cut our holiday short and return back home immediately. 

I feel that my family were discriminated against due to our religious and cultural beliefs. Unfortunately, I don’t have the finance to pay for the legal costs to challenge Butlins. This is a plea for support with the court case and legal fees. I strongly feel that Butlins shouldn’t be allowed to get away with this and must not be allowed to set a precedent for other theme parks. 

What legal action have I taken so far?

When I returned I wrote a formal discrimination letter to Butlins, they insisted that this was their policy. I contacted the Equality Advisory Council who wrote a letter o my behalf and received the same response. Being aware that there wasn’t any financial support for this sort of case, I got in touch with solicitors who assessed my case and was advised that I have a potential case to pursue. I’ve asked them to write a legal letter to highlight my concerns; they too received an insufficient response, and wrote a further letter asking them to respond to the points highlighted in the letter. Their final response was asking my solicitor to contact their legal representative. 

How much money am I raising and what will I use it for?

I have engaged Liberty Law Solicitors. I need to raise money in two stages. 

Stage One: £5,000 - this will pay for the initial legal work that has been undertaken, investigation and pre-action activity.

Stage Two: £5,000 - Once I have raised the initial amount I will be raising a further amount to cover legal costs and court fees for the entire case. The total amount I will need is £10,000 

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My daughter has chosen to remain anonymous. Photo credit: Flickr user Frank Boston