ADJUDICATION OFFICER DECISION
Adjudication Reference: ADJ-00050881
Parties:
| Complainant | Respondent |
Parties | Nuria Carrero Gonzalez | Caspian BMP Limited |
Representatives | Self-represented | Michael Kingsley BL |
Complaint:
Act | Complaint Reference No. | Date of Receipt |
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 77 of the Employment Equality Act, 1998 | CA-00062176-003 | 12/03/2024 |
Date of Adjudication Hearing: 16/07/2024
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Catherine Byrne
Procedure:
In accordance with Section 79 of the Employment Equality Acts 1998 - 2015, this complaint was assigned to me by the Director General. I conducted a remote hearing on July 16th 2024, at which I made enquiries and gave the parties an opportunity to be heard and to present evidence relevant to the complaint.
The complainant, Ms Nuria Carrero Gonzalez, represented herself, attending the hearing remotely from Spain. Ms Diletta Panero attended remotely from Dublin to translate for Ms Gonzalez. Caspian BMP was represented by Mr Michael Kingsley, instructed by Mr Jason O’Sullivan of JOS Solicitors. The company’s directors, Mr Ben Habibi and Ms Moira Ryan also attended the hearing remotely. While the parties are named in this decision, from here on, I will refer to Ms Carrero Gonzalez as “the complainant” and to Caspian BNP as “the respondent.”
Background:
The respondent is a provider of home care services. On January 14th 2024, the complainant commenced working for them as a care assistant. She earned a salary of €27,500 and she was provided with accommodation and a car to travel to the clients to whom she was assigned. The complainant’s employment was terminated on March 12th 2024, before the completion of her probation. That evening, she sent a complaint form to the WRC, claiming that she was discriminated against on the grounds of sexual orientation. In the narrative part of the form, she stated, “because I am woman, I work more than all the men.” Following a request from the WRC to her to confirm the most recent date on which the alleged discrimination occurred, she replied, “The most recent date of my discrimination is 11/03/2024.” The complainant is a Spanish national and she is not fluent in English. At the hearing, she said that she got advice from a friend about making a complaint to the WRC. On April 11th 2024, she sent a document to the WRC in which she complained about her wages, breaks during the working day, breaks between working days, Sunday working, excessive working hours, the management of her roster, safety at work, travel time between clients and the condition of the car provided to her for work. She said, “In reality, I want to talk about my working conditions.” She gave evidence about her experience of working for the respondent, and it became apparent to me that her complaints are more properly related to potential breaches of the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997 and the Payment of Wages Act 1991. On behalf of the respondent, Mr Kingsley said that his client complied with its legal and contractual obligations to the complainant and they refute these allegations. |
Findings and Conclusions:
The complainant has not shown that she was treated less favourably than another employee because of her sexual orientation or her gender and it is clear to me that her complaint under the Employment Equality Act 1998 is misconceived. As she was dismissed on March 12th 2024, on the date of this hearing, July 16th 2024, she is within the six-month timeframe prescribed at s.41(6) of the Workplace Relations Acts 2015 to submit a complaint under the relevant legislation about the issues related to her wages and hours of work. |
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.
I decide that this complaint is not well founded. |
Dated: 18-07-2024
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Catherine Byrne
Key Words:
Complaint is misconceived |