ADJUDICATION OFFICER DECISION.
Adjudication Reference: ADJ-00009225
Parties:
| Complainant | Respondent |
Anonymised Parties | A tenant | A landlady |
Complaint(s):
Act | Complaint/Dispute Reference No. | Date of Receipt |
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Section 21 Equal Status Act, 2000 | CA-00012089-001 | 23/06/2017 |
Date of Adjudication Hearing: 12/06/2018
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Jim Dolan
Procedure:
In accordance with Section 25 of the Equal Status Act, 2000, following the referral of the complaint to me by the Director General, I inquired into the complaint and gave the parties an opportunity to be heard by me and to present to me any evidence relevant to the complaint.
Background:
The Complainant is a student whose landlady refused to sign her application form for rent allowance. The complaint was received by the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) on 23/06/2017 under section 21 of the Equal Status Act,2000. |
Summary of Complainant’s Case:
On 21/01/2017 the Complainant viewed a room in a house owned by the Respondent in Maynooth. When the Complainant asked the Respondent if she would accept rent allowance she was informed that this should not be a problem. The Complainant moved into the room in the said house on 01/02/2017. On 11/02/2017 the Respondent paid a visit to the house and told the Complainant that, on the advice of her solicitor, she would not be signing the forms. On 14/02/2017 the Complainant sent a text to the Respondent requesting that she re-consider her decision not to sign the form. In reply, on 15/02/2017, the Respondent sent a text to the Complainant stating that “her hands were tied”. The Respondent’s daughter, who lived in the property signed a statement dated 9th March 2017 that quite clearly states: “I was present when Ms X (names complainant) showed Ms Y (names respondent) the forms she needed to be signed and went through each section with her and my mother confirmed this was no problem”. In conclusion, the Complainant believes that she was discriminated against on by the Respondent when she refused to sign her forms for rent allowance on 11/02/2017 and again on 15/02/2017.
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Summary of Respondent’s Case:
The Respondent did not attend the hearing. Correspondence in relation to the hearing was posted to the correct address. |
Findings and Conclusions:
The Equality (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2015 has inserted a tenth ground in the provision of accommodation only; the “housing assistance” ground. This has been designed to “prohibit discrimination in the provision of accommodation on the basis of receipt of certain payments and for those other purposes to amend the Pensions Act, 1990 ; the Employment Equality Act, 1998 and the Equal Status Act, 2000 and to provide for matters therewith. In this instant case I have to find that the complaint is well founded and the Complainant was discriminated against in relation to her receipt of rent allowance. |
Decision:
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.
I order the Respondent to pay to the Complainant the sum of €2,500 in compensation for this act of discrimination. |
Dated: 2nd August 2018.
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Jim Dolan
Key Words:
Equal Status; Housing Assistance Payment. |