ADJUDICATION OFFICER DECISION
Adjudication Reference: ADJ-00047627
Parties:
| Complainant | Respondent |
Parties | Ellen Collins | Vantage Bars Limited |
Representatives | Ruane & Co Solicitors | Eoin Morris BL instructed by Robert Emmet Bourke & Co Solicitors |
Complaint:
Act | Complaint Reference No. | Date of Receipt |
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 21 Equal Status Act 2000 | CA-00058375-001 | 18/08/2023 |
Date of Adjudication Hearing: 08/02/2024
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Kara Turner
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.
A hearing was arranged for 8 February 2024. Eoin Morris BL attended the hearing on behalf of the respondent. There was no attendance at the hearing by or on behalf of the complainant.
Background:
A complaint under the Equal Status Acts 2000-2015 was referred to the Commission on 18 August 2023. By email of 18 December 2023, the parties were notified of the hearing arrangements for 8 February 2024. Prior to the hearing date, the Commission received from the respondent’s solicitors copy communications from it to solicitors for the complainant in relation to the complaint and legal submissions on behalf of the respondent. |
Summary of Complainant’s Case:
By reference to the complaint form, the complaint was one of discrimination in and around the attendance of the complainant at a premises on 19 February 2023. There was no attendance by or on behalf of the complainant at the hearing, and no documentation was received in support of the complaint prior to the hearing. |
Summary of Respondent’s Case:
Having regard to the documentation before me, the respondent fully disputed the complaint against it and preliminary issues were raised concerning the Intoxicating Liquor Act 2003 and non-compliance with the provisions of section 21 of the Equal Status Acts 2000- 2015. |
Findings and Conclusions:
I attended the hearing in Lansdowne House on 8 February 2024. Counsel for the respondent was in attendance. It was Counsel’s understanding that the complaint against the respondent was withdrawn, and he referred in this regard to a communication from the complainant’s solicitor, sent the day before the hearing. I had not received the communication referred to by the respondent’s representative. I subsequently established that the complainant’s representative had emailed the Commission and respondent’s representative on 7 February 2024 advising of instructions received that the complainant did not wish to proceed with the case and would not be present at the hearing on 8 February. By correspondence dated 8 February 2024 and email of 26 February 2024, the Commission informed the complainant’s representative that if the complaint against the respondent was withdrawn, written confirmation in those terms was required and an update as to the status of the complaint was requested. The Commission also advised that the file remained open. No response was received to either communication from the Commission and, by correspondence dated 9 April 2024, it was advised that I would proceed to issue a decision. Based on the complainant’s non-attendance at the hearing on 8 February 2024, I must conclude that the complaint is not well founded. |
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.
For the reasons outlined above, I find that the complaint is not well founded. |
Dated: 2nd May 2024.
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Kara Turner
Key Words:
Equal Status Acts – Withdrawal of complaint not confirmed – No attendance at hearing |