Irish Rail made ‘unwarranted slurs’

Irish Rail was guilty of having made “unwarranted slurs” in court against a 26-year-old marketing executive who had sued the company for assault and false imprisonment, said a judge in the Circuit Civil Court.

Judge Francis Comerford said the company had used “unattractive comments” posted on Twitter by Sarah Doupe to claim she was a violent and crude person who had abused members of staff at Pearse Dart Station on the night of the 2013 Trinity Ball.

“This was a line deliberately taken by the defence which was not made out and compounded the harm done to the plaintiff by the false imprisonment on the night,” said Judge Comerford.

The court heard that Ms Doupe, of Maryville, Skerries Rd, Lusk, Co Dublin, was not going to the ball but was among a crowd of black-tie revellers who stepped off a packed Dart at Pearse Station on April 5, 2013, into the middle of a dispute over tickets.

Although she had a ticket, she became involved in an altercation with Irish Rail staff member Darren Williams, who had fined a man who did not have a ticket. This man then shouted at Mr Williams: “Fuck you, you bald faggot. Get a real job.”

Judge Comerford said that when Ms Doupe was refused Mr Williams’ name, she reached for his identity badge on a lanyard around his neck and, she claimed, been pushed backwards by him. She took a photograph of Mr Williams on her phone and refused to delete it. As she attempted to leave the station, staff and security men were instructed to and did detain her on the ramp.

Ms Doupe denied in court that she called Mr Williams “a fat Nazi bastard” or threatened to bite him.

Judge Comerford told Fergal Fitzgerald Doyle, for Ms Doupe, that he accepted she was detained because she refused to delete the photo. He dismissed her claim of assault.

The judge, in a significant reserved judgment, said Irish Rail employees dealing with late-night crowds, bus and taxi drivers, nightclub bouncers, gardaí, and staff at emergency departments are all subject to abuse, ranging from offensive comment to very grave assault. Irish Rail had advertised it would not tolerate abuse of staff, clearly a laudable policy, he said.

Mr Williams was complying with company policy in issuing the man with a fine, before he became involved in the altercation with Ms Doupe, who wanted to know his name. She was in no way intoxicated, abusive, or out of control, as alleged by Irish Rail, and had she been given Mr Williams’ name, she most likely would have left. Instead, she took a photo of him.

“We have to bow to the realisation that none of us have any right not to be photographed in a public place… a feature that has become more pronounced now that so many people carry a camera in their phone,” said the judge.

Awarding Ms Doupe €16,000 damages for false imprisonment, he said if there was a policy of keeping identities confidential, there had to be a system allowing a member of the public to be able to identify the person with whom they’re dealing.

Mr Fitzgerald Doyle was awarded costs against Irish Rail.