A worker who said a sales consultant’s remark about “a pack of k******s” was “deeply hurtful, offensive, and profoundly inappropriate” to him as a member of the Travelling community has secured €15,000 in compensation for harassment.
Kieran Reilly won the sum on foot of a complaint to the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) under the Employment Equality Act 1998 against his former employer, Energy Centre Limited.
Reilly, a member of the Travelling community, was just five weeks into a new job as a sales assistant earning €900 a week when the incident took place at a sales meeting on March 12th, 2025, the WRC heard.
One of the speakers – described as a “senior member of the respondent’s management” in the complaint – told the sales team that sales ought to increase.
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He went on to say the sales team had a “quality product” and were not “like a pack of k******s going door to door selling tarmac”, it was submitted.
The employer did not contest the facts presented by the complainant, except to say that the person who uttered the remark was not one of its staff, but rather “a consultant invited to address the workforce”, it was submitted.
The employer accepted liability for harassment.
“The respondent accepts that the comment was offensive, reckless and unacceptable, and recognises that the complainant was hurt and offended,” its barrister Eoin Kidd BL submitted.
Kidd submitted that a text from the consultant apologising for the offence caused to Reilly, and a separate unreserved apology from the employer, should be taken into account in setting the award.
The text “accepted that the comments were made and offered an apology in an apparently heartfelt manner” – with the consultant offering to meet Reilly, the tribunal was told.
Reilly told the WRC that while he appreciated the apology, it “did not mitigate the wrong or the harm caused by the comments”.
He said he could not continue in the job as he did not have full confidence he would have a safe working environment, and immediately quit.
His evidence that the remark was “deeply hurtful, offensive, and profoundly inappropriate within a professional environment” was noted by adjudicator Brian Dolan.
In his decision, published on Wednesday, Dolan noted that it was accepted Reilly was a member of the Travelling community.
He found a “derogatory” and “hostile” term was used at the sales meeting which “served to violate the complainant’s dignity”.
It was clear that Reilly was harassed, he wrote, upholding the Employment Equality Act complaint.
He ordered the firm to give Reilly four months pay as compensation, amounting to €15,000.
Dolan also directed the respondent to “engage in relevant training as regards to respect and dignity in the workplace” workplace within two months of his decision.
Andy Walsh of KOD Lyons Solicitors appeared for Reilly; while Kidd was instructed by JR Plunkett Solicitors for the employer.
