ADJUDICATION OFFICER DECISION
Adjudication Reference: ADJ-00008859
Parties:
| Complainant | Respondent |
Anonymised Parties | A Bus Driver | A Bus Company |
Complaint(s):
Act | Complaint/Dispute Reference No. | Date of Receipt |
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 77 of the Employment Equality Act, 1998 | CA-00011812-001 | 07/06/2017 |
Date of Adjudication Hearing: 15/11/2017
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Michael McEntee
Procedure:
In accordance Section 79 of the Employment Equality Acts, 1998 - 2015, following the referral of the complaint(s)/dispute(s) to me by the Director General, I inquired into the complaint(s)/dispute(s) and gave the parties an opportunity to be heard by me and to present to me any evidence relevant to the complaint(s)/dispute(s).
Background:
The Complainant alleged that she had been Discriminated against by the Respondent Company on the grounds that she had been denied employment and training on the grounds of her Gender. |
1: Summary of Complainant’s Case: Both Oral and Written.
The Complainant is a qualified Coach Driver. During 2016 she applied for and secured temporary employment during the month of August with the Respondent as a Coach Driver. She specified to the Respondent that she only Drove and did not do Tour Guiding as well. The Respondent agreed to this as most Tour parties have their own guides. On the 25th August 2016, a situation arose with a Tour Group who due to a misunderstanding did not have a Tour Guide. It was necessary for the Company to, at short notice, provide a relief for the Complainant as she was unable to continue with the job as she was not a Guide. Afterwards the Complainant was assured that there would be plenty of further work when the Tour Season picked up again in 2017. In March 2017, the Respondent advertised for Coach Drivers (Seasonal Tour Drivers) and the Complainant applied. Copy of Advert produced in evidence. After some time, following her application, she contacted the Respondent directly by telephone. She spoke to the Administrator who informed her that the Directors/Mangers of the Company only really wanted Male drivers as a lot of the work involved hauling and loading Tour Guest suitcases. Her application was accordingly not being processed. Her partner, a male driver, rang the Company shortly afterwards and was immediately offered an interview with a view to an almost immediate commencement of work. The Male Partner gave oral evidence to this effect. |
2: Summary of Respondent’s Case:
The Respondent did not attend the hearing and no communication or explanation for non attendance was received. As regards proper notice the Complainant had given the correct Respondent address but had mistakenly stated the Respondent name as two words as opposed to one word. All else was correct. At the hearing, she was unclear as to whether or not Limited should be attached to the Respondent name but relied on the Job Advert which had no mention of Limited. As a fail-safe Limited was added to the name at the hearing. On balance reviewing all the materials and the oral evidence presented by both the Complainant and her witness I was satisfied that, by any reasonable tests, the correct Respondent had been notified. |
3: Findings and Conclusions:
The evidence from the Complainant was well made and I found it convincing. It was clear that she had been refused further employment on a discriminatory Gender basis. The reported conversations from Company personnel made this clear. The immediate willingness to employ a male driver highlighted the discrimination. Accordingly, I find in her favour and decide that a case of gender discrimination has been made. An award of €2,000 compensation for breach of a statutory right is made in favour of the Complainant. The Taxation of this award is a matter for the advice of the Revenue Commissioners. |
4: Decision:
Section 79 of the Employment Equality Acts, 1998 – 2015 requires that I make a decision in relation to the complaint in accordance with the relevant redress provisions under section 82 of the Act.
Act | Complaint/Dispute Reference No. | Summary Decision /Refer to Section 3 above for reasoning. |
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 77 of the Employment Equality Act, 1998 | CA-00011812-001 | Claim for gender Discrimination is well made and a compensation award of €2,000 is made. |
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Dated: 16/02/18
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Michael McEntee
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