Equal Status Acts 2000 - 2004
Decision DEC-S2008-027
Theresa McCarthy, Ann O'Driscoll & Margaret Meehan
(represented by Sullivan Waters & Co., Solicitors)
V
Donnellans Bar
(represented by Pat Barriscale, Solicitor)
Key words
Equal Status Act 2000 - Direct discrimination, section 3(1)(a) - Membership of the Traveller community, section 3(2)(i) - Supply of goods and services, section 5(1) - Refusal of Admission to a Pub
Dispute
This dispute concerns a complaint by Theresa McCarthy, Ann O'Driscoll & Margaret Meehan that they were discriminated against in being refused service in Donnellans Bar, Ballygran on 17 May 2003 because of their membership of the Traveller community.
Delegation under the Equal Status Act, 2000
This complaint was referred to the Director of Equality Investigations under the Equal Status Act 2000. In accordance with her powers under section 75 of the Employment Equality Act 1998 and under the Equal Status Acts, the Director has delegated the complaint to myself, Brian O’Byrne, an Equality Officer, for investigation, hearing and decision and for the exercise of other relevant functions of the Director under Part III of the Equal Status Acts.
Evidence of Parties at Hearing on 21 February 2008
Ann O’Driscoll and her two daughters, Theresa McCarthy and Margaret Meehan all live in Charleville, Co Cork. Both daughters are married to non-Travellers.
None of the three complainants had ever been in Donnellans Bar, Ballygran before. Ballygran is about 10 miles from where they live.
The three women and the daughters’ two husbands received an invitation to attend a party in Castletown Co. Limerick on 17 May 2003.
On the night in question, the two husbands decided that they would drive to Ballygran, which was between Charleville and Castletown, and have a drink in Donnellans Bar before the party. The arrangement was that the women would follow later and meet them in Donnellans before driving on to Castletown for the party.
At the Hearing on 21 February 2008, one of the husbands, Thomas Meehan, gave evidence that he and the other husband arrived in Donnellans around 6.45 pm and ordered a drink. When the women arrived about a half hour later, he said that they were immediately refused admission by the proprietor who ushered them out of the pub. Mr Meehan and the other man then left with the women.
The three complainants gave evidence that they arrived in Donnellans soon after 7pm but were immediately approached by Mr Donnellan who informed them that he did not “want your equals in here” which they took to mean members of the Traveller community.
Theresa McCarthy said that she tried to speak to Mr Donnellan but, despite her protestations, he ushered her out of the pub.
Mr Donnellan gave evidence that he had been running the pub since 1981 and had many Traveller customers over the years without encountering any trouble.
In May 2002, however, he said that a serious violent incident occurred when an unknown group of five entered the pub and inflicted serious injuries to a number of his regular Traveller customers belonging to the same family. Newspaper reports of the incident were produced in evidence.
He said that the Gardai were called but had difficulty pursuing the case because of the unwillingness of the regular customers to make statements to the Gardai . The Traveller family stopped visiting his pub after the incident.
He said that the violent nature of the incident left the whole village scared and that his customers became very wary after that.
Mr Donnellan said that around 7pm on 17 May 2003, a customer sitting near the front window expressed alarm about a group of people who he could see “running across the road” towards the pub. Mr Donnellan said that his immediate reaction was one of concern and worry as he feared a recurrence of the incident of a year earlier.
Within seconds, three women came in the door and Mr Donnellan immediately thought that he recognised one of them as one of the group from the night of the violent incident in 2002. He said that, as he “did not know what to expect”, he said that he made a reasoned decision and decided that the best option was to refuse admission to the ladies.
Decision
The evidence before me indicates that Mr Donnellan did recognise the three women as Travellers on arrival as he has said that his immediate reaction on seeing them was to make an association with the serious incident involving Travellers a year earlier.
I have also formed the opinion that Mr Donnellan unnecessarily “panicked” on the night and refused the three Traveller women on an unfounded suspicion that they might have had some involvement in the violent incident that occurred a year earlier. I also consider that, if Mr Donnellan had taken the time to listen to Theresa McCarthy on the night that he would have immediately established that they posed no threat to him or his customers. Mr Donnellans did, not, however, do so and I believe that this was because he recognised the ladies as Travellers.
By not engaging the complainants in conversation, I consider that Mr Donnellan treated the three women less favourably than he would have treated three non-Travellers in similar circumstances. Accordingly, I consider that Mr Donnellan did discriminate against the three complainants on the Traveller community ground contrary to the provisions of the Equal Status Acts 2000 - 2004.
I find that a prima facie case of discrimination has been established by the complainants on the Traveller community ground in terms of sections 3(1) and 3(2)(i) of the Equal Status Acts 2000 - 2004 and I also find that the respondent has failed to rebut the allegation of discrimination.
In considering the level of redress to award, I have borne in mind that this would appear to have been a once-off incident and that Mr Donnellan seems to have had no problem in serving Travellers in his pub prior to May 2002. Accordingly, I award each complainant the sum of €400 in compensation for the upset and humiliation experienced on the night of 17 May 2003.
Brian O’Byrne
Equality Officer
22 April 2008