PEOPLE CONTINUE to be discriminated against on the basis of race, pregnancy and disability, according to the latest decisions of the Equality Tribunal, which made awards ranging from €1,250 to €25,000.
A Zimbabwean man working for a security company was awarded €25,000 by the tribunal for discrimination on the grounds of race. Mr Chasi was employed by J I Security at various building sites around Dublin between December 2002 and June 2007, when his employment was terminated. He complained that he was discriminated against in having to work night shifts and long weekend shifts of up to 26 continuous hours; he was paid less than his Irish colleagues and received no holiday pay. When he raised these issues with his employer he was verbally abused and eventually dismissed.
The company did not attend the hearing and wrote claiming the complainant had never worked for it, though his payslips contained his name, PPS number and the name of the employer.
A South African man employed by Counter Product Marketing Ltd was awarded €5,000 for harassment and €10,000 for discrimination regarding access to promotion by the tribunal, following a complaint about racist comments and failing to obtain promotion.
Gerschen Moodley worked with the company in door-to-door sales since 2005, and he complained he had been the subject of racist comments from some fellow-workers and had not been promoted despite exceeding targets.
The equality officer found that between 85 and 90 per cent of about 300 field sales representative were foreign nationals, but of 19 promotions to team leader, 16 were Irish, one was white South African, one Australian and one British. There was a prima facie case of discrimination in relation to promotion.
A woman whose offer of a 10-month fixed term contract was withdrawn when she revealed she was pregnant, was awarded €12,697 for discrimination on the grounds of gender. The contract was to fill the position of a person already on maternity leave, and when she revealed she was pregnant the offer was withdrawn.
Seven taxi drivers of African origin were each awarded €6,349 against a Galway taxi firm for discrimination on the grounds of race when they were told they could not become shareholders in the company, despite an earlier offer and having worked with it for some time. A man suffering from Parkinson’s disease was awarded €1,250 for discrimination on the grounds of disability when the tribunal found he had been refused access to a bus.