OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR OF EQUALITY INVESTIGATIONS
Equal Status Act 2000
EQUALITY OFFICER DECISION NO: DEC - S2001-009
Mr Michael Moorehouse
( Represented by Haughtons Solicitors )
-v-
Ayleswood Ltd
(Represented by Malone & Martin, Solicitors)
File Ref: ES/2001/02
Date of Issue: 1st October, 2001
Headnotes:Equal Status Act 2000 - direct discrimination - section 3(1)(a) - membership of the Traveller community - section 5(1) - refusal of service in a pub - complainant previously barred - respondent claimed it did not know he was a Traveller - section 15(1) and 15(2) defence.
Mr Michael Moorehouse was a regular customer in a pub owned by the respondent called Clancy's in Bray, Co. Wicklow, for nine months up to November, 2000. In November, 2000, he was refused service. He claimed that the reason for his refusal was based on his membership of the Traveller community. This was denied by the respondent. It claimed that the reason the complainant was refused service was because it only discovered in November, 2000, that the complainant had been barred from the pub in 1997 by the then manager of the pub. The respondent also claimed that the manager of the pub who refused to serve the complainant in November, 2000, did not know that the complainant was a member of the Traveller community.