so i've just finished a blog post there it's called a shop customer who refused
to wear a mask loses two discrimination claims at the wrc the workplace relations commission
this gentleman mr anthony little complained to the wrc that he was discriminated against
by byways discount stores cost cutter north strand in dublin he'd been refused entry to the shop in
january 2021 for refusing or he wasn't served actually he i think he may have got in but he was
asked to leave by the manager for his refusal to wear a face mask he claimed he had
an exemption under the act he wanted to see speak to the owner so he came back some time later
and spoke with the owner but the result was the same the owner was implementing the regulations
and the hse guidelines and so on at the time it was january 2021 about wearing face masks
in retail shops and so on so this man even though he wouldn't tell the shop owner or
the manager for his disability was he believed he could just claim that he had an exemption had a
disability and therefore wasn't obliged to wear it he brought not one but two claims to the wrc
one was for the refusal by the shop manager to serve him or allow him to be served and the
other was against the owner of the shop when he went to the wrc then the hearing was in
march i think and the decision was just there last week i've done a blog post there on my website
employment rights ireland.com but at the wrc he was asked about the disability that he claimed and
he did accept that he didn't tell the shopkeeper what his disability or his claim disability was
because he did not believe he was obliged to do so he thought that you could just claim an exemption
under the relevant legislation not to wear the face mask and that it was no place to give any
reason as i've heard to the shopkeeper the wrc asked him or the adjudication officer rather
asked him had he any medical evidence or medical certificate to support his claim that he had a
disability and he said no he didn't he was asked what his disability was and he said claustrophobia
he said wearing a face mask triggered this claustrophobia he was asked when did he
last see a medical practitioner about the claustrophobia and it was 20 years
prior there was some incident 20 years prior not surprisingly the adjudication officer found that
there was no discrimination as little had failed to provide any evidence that he was treated less
favorably on the grounds of disability in fact he had failed to even prove he had a disability
he also failed to show that the shopkeeper had failed to make reasonable accommodation for a
person with a disability because again he simply made the assertion made the
allegation made the statement that he had a disability without a particle of evidence
the conclusion you can draw from basis to if you want to bring a claim for discrimination
that has a prospect of success the most first prove facts from which a reasonable
inference of discrimination can be shown but you must also show that you have a disability
and that you are a protected person under the legislation and simply stating that you have a
disability simply stating that you suffer from something may not be enough to show or to prove
that you have a disability and if you can't prove that you have a disability you certainly
can't prove then that you were discriminated against on the grounds of your disability
in this case as i say one of the funny aspects or peculiar aspects the complainant did not even tell
the shopkeeper or his claimed disability was as he did not believe that he had to provide any reason
other than to state that a reasonable excuse for not wearing a mask the takeaway from this is you
must prove your case you can make statements on social media platforms you can make statements
on facebook groups you can make them on twitter you can make them on instagram or anywhere else
you can make assertions but when the rubber hits the road when you go to the wrc or go to court you
must prove your case and making assertions merely making assertions simply isn't enough i hope you
find this video useful the full blog post is on my website employment rightsearland.com and there's a
link in that blog post to the actual decision itself it's probably one that would be worth
having a look at especially if you're a shopkeeper or in retail because um there's probably a few of
these cases in the pipeline but this may set some of them back but having said that if somebody has
a genuine disability then there should be no difficulty with the um with bringing the
claim if they were genuine disability but as i say making the claim making an assertion isn't enough