Two out of nine service refusal cases upheld

ONLY two out of nine people who claimed they were refused service and discriminated against have had their cases upheld by the Equality Tribunal so far this year.

Two Travellers were awarded €1,600 between them for being refused service in public houses, according to the Equality Tribunal report, published yesterday.

But seven other cases of alleged breaches of the Equal Status Act 2002 were not upheld by the tribunal because they said there was not enough evidence of discrimination. Not all these cases were taken by Travellers.

The first successful equal status case was taken by Pat Ward, who was awarded €600 in compensation for being discriminated against because he was a member of the Traveller community.

The equality officer said there was a complete conflict of evidence in relation to the facts in the case of Pat Ward against Fox's Bar, Galway. But on balance, he found the evidence of the complainant and his witnesses more compelling than that of the respondent and his witnesses.

In the second case, David McDonagh claimed that he was discriminated against when he was refused service by Darcy's Korner Pub, Clare. Mr McDonagh was awarded €1,000.

The equality officer found in his favour and said the respondent ignored correspondence about the case and did not ensure that the key witness, the barman, attended the hearing to provide evidence. He also noted that the doorman's evidence corroborated the complainant's account of events.

Three cases of alleged discrimination taken under the Equal Employment Act 1998 were also decided yesterday. The Equality Tribunal did not uphold two of these cases and said it had no jurisdiction over the third.

The majority of people who referred their cases to the Equality Tribunal in the first six months of this year opted for a full investigation by an equality officer rather than trying to resolve the issue through mediation.

Out of 600 equal status cases referred to the tribunal, only 45 opted for mediation. In the same period, 413 employment equality cases were referred to the tribunal and 36 of these opted for mediation.

But the Equality Tribunal said there was a significant increase in the number of cases referred to mediation this year compared to the first six months last year.

The number of employment equality cases referred to mediation rose from 21 to 36 a 71% increase. And the numbers of equal status cases referred to mediation rose from 37 to 45 a 21% increase.

Equality Tribunal director Melanie Pine welcomed the increase: "Mediation is an ideal mechanism for resolving complaints of discrimination it can achieve a win-win solution for all parties through a mutual agreement rather than through an investigation."