ADJUDICATION OFFICER DECISION

 Adjudication Reference: ADJ-00007640

Parties:

Complainant       Anonymised Parties     Respondent

Driver                                                        Service provider  

Representatives   Did not attend

Complaint(s):

ActComplaint/Dispute           Reference No.            Date of Receipt

Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 77 of the Employment Equality Act, 1998 CA-00010163-001 10/03/2017  

Date of Adjudication Hearing: 18/10/2017 Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: John Tierney

Procedure:

In accordance with Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act, 2015 and 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 Claimant is claiming discrimination on the grounds of race, promotion, training and victimisation.

Summary of Complainant’s Case:

The Claimant is of Polish nationality. He was employed as a driver by the Respondent from September 2011 until January 2017. He stated that while usually all staff got promoted after two years he did not obtain a promotion. He never received training like the other employees and was not advised of vacancies. He believes that the Respondent was biased against him because of his nationality. He also claimed he was victimised for making a complaint to the WRC.  

Summary of Respondent’s Case:

There was an unexplained absence of the Respondent.

Decision:

Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act 2015 requires that I make a decision in relation to the complaint(s)/dispute(s) in accordance with the relevant redress provisions under Schedule 6 of that Act. 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. I have considered the Claimant’s submission. In the course of his evidence the Claimant admitted that three of his work colleagues who were of the same nationality as him, Polish, received training. As there was an unexplained absence of the Respondent I have considered the evidence presented by the Claimant. I find that he was discriminated on the grounds of promotion, training and not receiving notice of promotional vacancies. There is insufficient evidence to show that he was discriminated on the grounds of race or victimisation for making a complaint to the WRC. Based on the above evidence I award the Claimant €10,000.00 in compensation.  

Dated:   26th January 2018         Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: John Tierney

Key Words: Discrimination on the grounds of promotion, training and notification of vacancies