Complainant

Respondent

Parties

Nora Ward

Macs Cabs Limited

Complainant

Respondent

Anonymised Parties

Member of the Travelling Community

Taxi service

Representatives

Self and sister

No attendance

Act

Complaint/Dispute Reference No.

Date of Receipt

Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Section 21 Equal Status Act, 2000

CA-00014000-001

18/09/2017

The complainant set out that she was discriminated against by the respondent, on grounds of membership of the Traveller Community when she was refused service by the Respondent on the 8th June 2017.

The Complainant submits that she rang the taxi company and was told that she would have to wait ten minutes before she could be picked up. She gave the address as her sister’s house in the halting site in the town. She waited a considerable period of time but was not collected by the taxi company.   She telephoned the taxi company again and was told that the driver was on his way to her. She gave him more time but he still didn’t collect her.   She rang a third time to be told that the taxi did call to the address, beeped the car horn at her but she turned her back on him. She was told that the taxi wouldn’t go to the address again because of her actions.

The Complainant had a negative experience with the Respondent taxi service about sixteen years prior to this incident. Her evidence was that the drivers would never drive her to her door, but would leave her at the entrance to the halting site.

She normally uses a different firm of taxis in the town. The Complainant wished to make clear that that the other taxi firm always treated her very well.

The Complainant showed me CCTV footage taken at her sister’s house and it confirmed the date and the time that Complainant was waiting for the taxi.

The Complainant submitted that while there is a business park in the townland there is no commercial Unit 13 and she had no doubt that the Respondent did know that they were to collect her from the halting site.

A letter from the Respondent’s solicitors dated the 3rd of August 2017 was with the papers filed with the WRC. This is the only version of the Respondent’s case as there was no attendance from him.

A telephone call was made to the Respondent who advised that he was not attending the hearing.

The letter confirmed that on the 8th of June 2017 the Complainant booked a cab to pick her up from the townland named. The cab driver was dispatched to pick up. The Respondent spent a considerable amount of time trying to find the Complainant in this townland. The letter goes further on to state that there was a number of calls back and forth from the Complainant to the office but the cab driver was unable to find the Complainant in the townland. The letter further goes on to say that the cab driver was familiar with the Complainant and had picked her up on many occasions for the taxi company.   The letter stated that the Complainant was not available on the date from the position where she was to be picked up from and despite every effort made by the taxi driver he could not locate her. The letter further went on that the proprietor of the company has on regular occasions provided cab services to the Complainant and would hope to assist her at any time in the future if she needed such a service.

Preliminary issue – Notification

I noted that the ES1 notification was submitted outside of the prescribed time limits.

Section 21 (2)(a) of the Equal Status Acts, 2000 - 2015, states that

"Before seeking redress under this section, the complainant-

(a) shall, within 2 months after the prohibited conduct is alleged to have occurred, or, where more than one incident of prohibited conduct is alleged to have occurred, within 2 months after the last such occurrence, notify the respondent in writing of-

(i) the nature of the allegation,

(ii) the complainant's intention, if not satisfied with the respondent's response to the allegation, to seek redress under this Act.”

Section 21(3)(a) of the Equal Status Acts, 2000 - 2015, states that:

"On application by a complainant the Director may-

(i) for reasonable cause, direct that in relation to the complainant subsection (2) shall have effect as if for the reference to 2 months there were substituted a reference to such period not exceeding 4 months as is specified in the direction, or

(ii) exceptionally, where satisfied that it is just and reasonable in the particular circumstance of the case to do so direct that subsection (2) shall not apply in relation to the complainant to the extent specified in the direction,

and where such a direction is given, this Part shall have effect accordingly."

The Complainant did not submit the ES 1 notification form to the Respondent until after the 4th September 2017. Her solicitor did write to the Respondent on the 28th July 2017 setting out the details of the incident which had taken place on the 8th of June 2017. I reviewed this letter to ascertain if it satisfied the notification requirement under Section 21(2). The letter of 28th July 2017 was not available at the hearing but was provided to me by the Complainant’s former solicitors subsequent to the hearing.

The Complainant represented herself at the hearing with the assistance of her sister.

In ascertaining whether the letter of the 28th July 2017 complies with the requirements of Section 21 (2)(a) I must be satisfied that it sets out

(i) the nature of the allegation, and

(ii) the complainant's intention, if not satisfied with the respondent's response to the allegation, to seek redress under this Act.” (emphasis added)

In examining the letter of the 28th July 2017, it does provide details of the incident of 8th June 2017 and states that the complainant requests an apology in relation to the matter and requests its proposals to address the situation.   However, the letter does not make any reference to the Equal Status Acts or to seeking redress under the Equal Status Acts.

I note that the Complainant’s solicitors did advise her to contact a Traveller Representative Group for further advice and did not advise her further in the matter.

The Complainant completed the ES1 form and the WRC complaint form herself with assistance from her sister.

Unfortunately, the letter of the 28th July 2017 does not amount to notification for the purposes of the Acts and do not meet the requirements of a notification as prescribed under Section 21 (2).

This means that the ES1 form dated the 4th September 2017 was the first formal notice issued to the Respondent which referred to a complaint of discrimination on grounds of membership of the Traveller community and to the intention to seek redress under the Equal Status Acts. This form was sent to the Respondent by Registered post on the 5th September 2017 almost 3 months after the date of the incident.

The Equal Status Acts require that the notification must be sent within 2 months of the incident and that this 2 months requirement can be extended to 4 months where reasonable cause can be shown for the delay in submitting the notice outside of the 2 months but within 4 months.

The Complainant was legally represented during the 2-month period and had been advised to engage with a Traveller Representative body. I note that the Complainant did make contact with a Traveller Representative body eventually, having had difficulty in getting a reply from a different Traveller Representative body in the first instance.

I must be satisfied that it is fair and reasonable to dispense with the strict notification requirements made by the Acts. The Complainant seeks to rely on the fact that she believed that the letter of the 28th July 2017 met the requirements of the Act and wasn’t aware of the specific terms of the legislation.

Taking all of the foregoing into consideration I cannot justify dispensing with the notification requirement in the present circumstances. The complainant has not provided reasonable cause circumstances that both justify and explain the delay in notifying the Respondent as is strictly required under the Act. I am bound by the caselaw that has proceeded this case, details of which were provided to the Complainant by me.

I am, therefore, not empowered under the Acts to dispense with the strict notification requirement of Section 21 (2)(a) of the Equal Status Acts, 2000 - 2015.

As the notification requirements set out in S. 21 (2) of the Acts, were not complied with, I find that I have no jurisdiction to investigate the within complaint.

Notification. Section 21(2)(a). Reasonable cause.