A record number of discrimination claims at work and a significant rise in the number of incidents of alleged racism in the workplace are among the key features of claims lodged with the Equality Tribunal in the first nine months of this year. According to the tribunal, it dealt with 321 employment claims during the period, compared to 314 over the same period last year.This is a record level for such claims.
During this time, 40 more race claims were lodged with the tribunal than in 2005, with a total of 93 such complaints made. The number of employment claims on the basis of sexual orientation also doubled from three to six in the first nine months of this year.
But the level of employment claims lodged on gender and disability grounds decreased over the first nine months of this year, from 72 to 60 and from 56 to 42 respectively.
While there was a drop in the number of claims on the sole ground of membership of the Travelling Community - made under the separate category of discrimination in relation to access to goods and services - overall 37 per cent of cases referred to the tribunal involved Travellers who made claims on one or more grounds. While the number of claims against public sector organisations fell by a third, these still accounted for 40 per cent of all claims.
In an October decision published yesterday, Nicholas Burke, was awarded €2,000. An equality officer found he was discriminated against when Lynskey Ryan Insurance Ltd of Galway, refused, in September 2003, to provide him with a quote for public service vehicle insurance on grounds of age.