Gresham Hotel ordered to pay €500 to guest after refusing him entry over mask

The guest  told the WRC that he was exempt due to a serious medical condition but claimed the porter refused to look at his letter of exemption.

The Gresham Hotel has been ordered to pay a former guest €500 for the distress of being discriminated against for not wearing a face mask.
Picture: Leah Farrell / RollingNews.ie

The Gresham Hotel has been ordered to pay a former guest €500 for the distress of being discriminated against for not wearing a face mask.

The Workplace Relations Commission made the ruling after hearing how the guest felt “embarrassed” in how he was treated for not wearing a face mask.

The man told the WRC that he was exempt due to a serious medical condition but claimed the porter refused to look at his letter of exemption.

Although the WRC said there was a conflict between the submissions of the hotel and the guest, it found that the hotel staff member had discriminated against the guest and awarded him €500 for “his distress and the effects of discrimination”.

The man brought the complaint to the WRC under Section 21 Equal Status Act, 2000.

He said he had arranged to meet a friend in the Gresham Hotel, in Dublin’s city centre.

He told the WRC he was “upset and embarrassed” in the hotel lobby when he was asked by the duty porter where his mask was on December 16, 2020.

He says he told him that he was not required to wear a mask as he has a serious health condition that prevents him from wearing a mask and is exempt.

At the time, Covid measures stated a mask should not be required where the individual has a “reasonable excuse” which includes a disability.

The guest said he told the porter he had a letter confirming his disability, (exempting him from wearing a mask) but the porter refused to look at it. Picture PA

Letter

The guest said he told the porter he had a letter confirming his disability, but the porter refused to look at it.

The WRC noted: “He was embarrassed as other people in the hotel were looking over. He asked the porter three times: ‘Are you putting me out of the hotel?’.

“The Complainant was upset due to what happened and didn’t want more hassle so he left.”

The WRC heard the man then met his friend elsewhere.

Although he had been a guest at the hotel for some 40 years, he has never returned.

The following month after the incident, he submitted an ES1 form to the hotel, notifying it formally he intended to make a complaint to the WRC for perceived discrimination or unlawful treatment.

A representative of the hotel told the WRC that the employee involved in the incident has left the hotel and returned to another country.

In its defence, the hotel said the guest did not produce any letter confirming a medical condition preventing him from wearing a mask.

The hotel also said it has a zero-tolerance for discrimination and “was complying with health and safety protocols for the protection of guests and staff of the hotel”.

The WRC noted that the former hotel guest has provided medical evidence of a medical disability within the meaning of the Employment Equality Acts 1998-2015 which prevents him from wearing a mask.

“He was upset by what occurred and felt humiliated,” said the adjudicating officer in the case.

“I appreciate the incident took place at the height of the pandemic when the hotel was endeavouring to keep staff and guests safe and to comply with health and safety law.”