ADJUDICATION OFFICER DECISION

Adjudication Reference: ADJ-00014702

Parties:

	Complainant	Respondent
Parties	Roberto Alamazani	Said El Moudio

	Complainant	Respondent
Anonymised Parties	A Tenant	A Tenant

Representatives

Self-Represented

Did not attend.

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-00018989-001	06/05/2018

Date of Adjudication Hearing: 30/08/2018

Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Michael McEntee

Procedure:

In accordance with Section 25 of the Equal Status Act, 2000,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).

In keeping with Section 21 of the Equal Status Act ,2000 it is pre-requirement that the Complainant shall have already notified the Respondent (via Form ES1) in writing of the nature of the allegation and the intention to seek redress if not satisfied with the Respondent’s response.

I was satisfied that the correct written procedures (Form ES1) had been followed by the Complainant.

Background:

The case involves allegations, against a fellow Tenant in a Rented Apartment block, of Discrimination on Grounds of Gender, Race, Provisions of Goods and Services and general Grounds of Harassment.

1: Summary of Complainant’s Case:

In Oral evidence, supported by copy Text messages from the Respondent, the Complainant alleged that he had been discriminated against on the stated grounds and that he had been the victim of harassment by his fellow tenant.

2: Summary of Respondent’s Case:

The Respondent did not attend the hearing. No evidence was submitted in writing other than an E mail dated the 10th July 2018 in which the Respondent stated that the

“Case made no sense to him as he is also African and of the same gender as the Complainant”

3: Findings and Conclusions:

On the basis of the uncontested evidence of the Complainant it was clear that he was the recipient of quite forceful racial and discriminatory remarks from the Respondent Tenant and other Tenants in the Rented Premises. I understand that these matters have been referred to the Gardaí.

However specifically focusing on this Equal Status Act,2000 case, Section 2(1) of the Act states - ref to “Interpretation

“goods” means any articles of movable property;

“service” means a service or facility of any nature which is available to the public generally or a section of the public, and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, includes—

( a) access to and the use of any place,

( b) facilities for—

(i) banking, insurance, grants, loans, credit or financing,

(ii) entertainment, recreation or refreshment,

(iii) cultural activities, or

(iv) transport or travel,

( c) a service or facility provided by a club (whether or not it is a club holding a certificate of registration under the Registration of Clubs Acts, 1904 to 1999) which is available to the public generally or a section of the public, whether on payment or without payment, and

( d) a professional or trade service,

Section 5 of the Act requires that the “Discriminator” be a person or body providing goods or services, as defined above, to the public or a proportion of the public.

The Respondent, in this case is a fellow Tenant in a rented Apartment block.

The Respondent does not provide any “Service” as defined in the Act to the Complainant nor does he provide “Goods” to the Complainant.

Accordingly, the claim by the Complainant is outside the statutory remit of the Equal Status Act ,2000.

As such the claim as presented cannot proceed.

4: 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.

Act

Complaint/Dispute Reference No.

Summary Decision /Refer to Section 3 above for detailed reasoning.

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

CA-00018989-001

Claim is outside the statutory remit of the Equal Status Act 2000.

Claim is dismissed.

Dated: 02/10/18

Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Michael McEntee