Woman awarded €16,000 for health board discrimination

The Equality Tribunal has awarded €16,000 in compensation to a woman who was discriminated against by East Coast Area Health Board.

The tribunal said the health board had failed to justify its decision not to offer Jennifer Kiersey a permanent part-time position as a staff nurse at St Colman’s Hospital in Rathdrum, Co Wicklow, despite having 12 vacant positions at the time.

Ms Kiersey was awarded €6,000 for loss of earnings due to the discrimination and €10,000 for stress.

In other rulings published today, the tribunal also awarded €1,000 in compensation to a man who was discriminated against by the Bridge Hotel in Waterford on the grounds of his sexual orientation.

The Boss Hogg’s restaurant in Dublin, meanwhile, was found to have discriminated against a couple – Orla Byrne and Pat Houlihan – when it refused to serve them due to the presence of Ms Byrne’s guide dog.

The restaurant agreed to write a letter of apology to the couple, to post a notice that guide dogs were welcome in the premises, to provide a free meal to the complainants and to donate €50 to the Irish Guide Dogs Association.