Customer's complaint over 'notoriously loud' restaurant cannot be ruled on by WRC

In her complaint to the WRC, made under the Equal Status Act 2000, Ms Brady said she and her friends were seated beside the establishment’s sound system on the date in question. Picture: Eamonn Farrell/RollingNews.ie

The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) says it does not have jurisdiction to rule on a discrimination case taken by a hearing-impaired customer against a “notoriously loud” Dublin restaurant, whose staff, it was alleged, did not facilitate her request to turn down the volume of its sound system.

The customer, Emily Brady, told the WRC she had attended the 777 restaurant/bar on George's Street in Dublin 2 with friends on the evening of April 19, 2023.

In a decision published on Wednesday, the WRC noted that the “notoriously loud” 777 was playing music on April 19, 2023 “much louder than she [the complainant] expected and experienced in the past”.

In her complaint to the WRC, made under the Equal Status Act 2000, Ms Brady said she and her friends were seated beside the establishment’s sound system on the date in question. The WRC noted that Ms Brady, who has a hearing disability, was "not able to engage with the people around her due to the volume of 777’s sound system".

Ms Brady further alleged to the WRC that she identified her disability to a member of staff and asked to be moved away from the sound system, a request she said that was not facilitated.

The respondent in the WRC case, JFR limited, which manages 777, denied to the WRC that Ms Brady ever notified staff of her hearing-related disability. They said staff did seek to move Ms Brady to a different table, but there were no others available.

In his findings on the matter, WRC Adjudication Officer David James Murphy said it was “common case” that 777 is a licensed premises and that the complainant’s receipt “was even furnished in evidence”.

Mr Murphy noted that the Intoxicating Liquor Act 2003 "transferred jurisdiction of Equal Status Act complaints to the District Court”.

"Section 25 of the Equal Status Acts, 2000 – 2015 requires that I make a decision in relation to the complaint in accordance with the relevant redress provisions under section 27 of that Act,” Mr Murphy wrote in his decision.

“The WRC does not have jurisdiction in this matter as it concerns alleged prohibited conduct in a licensed premises.”