Tribunal discrimination claims against publicans drying up

CLAIMS of discrimination against publicans have reduced to a trickle, according to the latest figures from the Equality Tribunal.

Just 36 complaints involving licensed premises were referred to the tribunal for the six months to June 30, a 90% drop on the 325 cases referred during the same period last year.

A spokesperson for the tribunal yesterday said future complaints were likely to be referred to the District Court, which has had jurisdiction for the claims since September 2003.

The Courts Service was not available for comment last night on whether there had been a corresponding increase in discrimination claims against licensed premises before the District Court.

The transfer of these cases followed extensive lobbying by publicans who claimed they were easy targets for complaints of discrimination.

Over the past six months, the highest number of claims referred to the tribunal on a single ground continued to be membership of the Traveller community (33), followed by disability claims (30). There were 19 claims on race grounds and 15 relating to age discrimination.

Mediation is proving highly successful in resolving disputes, with three out of four disputes settled in this manner.

“I am glad that more people are realising the advantages of mediation to both sides and are making use of our very successful mediation service,” said Equality Tribunal director Melanie Pine.

Issuing her half-year report to June, Ms Pine said 76% of cases referred to mediation were successfully resolved, compared to 55% in the same period last year.

For the first six months of this year 127 claims were referred to mediation (compared to 60 in the first half of 2003).

This equates to 42% of all claims dealt with by the tribunal and reflected its new policy of referring all claims to mediation unless a party formally objected to it.

“I particularly welcome the extended jurisdiction in relation to pensions and discriminatory dismissals, which means that our position as the forum of first redress for employment discrimination is now comprehensive,’’ said Ms Pine.

“On the other hand, the drop in equal status claims because of the transfer of jurisdiction regarding licensed premises (to the District Court) will facilitate us in tackling the backlog built up over the last couple of years,” she said.