ADJUDICATION OFFICER DECISION
Adjudication Reference: ADJ-00016231
Parties:
| Complainant | Respondent |
Parties | Frances Parnell | City of Dublin Education and Training Board |
Complaint:
Act | Complaint Reference No. | Date of Receipt |
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Section 21 Equal Status Act, 2000 | CA-00020038-001 | 26/06/2018 |
Date of Adjudication Hearing: 06/03/2019
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Marie Flynn
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 Respondent is a provider of adult education services. The Complainant has submitted a claim under the Equal Status Acts alleging that the Respondent has discriminated against her by refusing her permission to attend two courses. The Respondent wholly denies the complaint. |
Preliminary Issue: Jurisdiction
Summary of Respondent’s Case:
The Respondent submits that the Complainant failed to issue the required statutory notice to them as required under Section 21(2) of the Equal Status Acts, 2000-2015. The Respondent asserts, therefore, that the complaint should be dismissed on the basis of the Complainant’s failure to comply with the requirements of Section 21(2) of the Acts. |
Summary of Complainant’s Case:
The Complainant submits that she found the process of submitting a complaint under the Equal Status Acts to be confusing and was not aware of the requirement to issue a statutory notice to the Respondent. |
Findings and Conclusions:
Before deciding on the substantive issue, I must first decide whether the Complainant complied with the notification requirements set out in Section 21 of the Equal Status Act 2000 as follows: (2) Before seeking redress under this section, the complainant — (a ) shall, within 2 months after the prohibited conducted 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” I find that the Complainant has not complied with the notification requirements set out in Section 21 of the Equal Status Act 2000. Taking all of the foregoing into consideration, I find that I have no jurisdiction to investigate this complaint. |
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.
In accordance with section 25(4) of the Equal Status Acts, I find that I have no jurisdiction to investigate this matter as the requirements set out in Section 21 of the Acts were not properly complied with. |
Dated: 29 April 2019
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Marie Flynn
Key Words:
Non-compliance with notification requirements |