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Waiter who was told 'go back to Brazil' awarded €5k

Summary

A Workplace Relations Commission adjudicator ordered a hotel to pay €5,000 compensation to a Brazilian waiter for racial harassment under the Employment Equality Act 1998. The waiter alleged that after reporting a supervisor's positive Covid-19 test in November 2021, the hotel's chef verbally attacked him, followed him through the premises, and told him to "go back to Brazil." The adjudicator, Orla Jones, found that CCTV footage supported the waiter's account, noting that a colleague attempted to hold back the chef. She rejected the hotel's claim that the video did not support the complainant's version, stating the waiter appeared genuine and consistent, while the chef did not attend and his absence was unexplained. The adjudicator concluded the waiter was subjected to harassment connected to his race. She also found significant deficiencies in the hotel's investigation, including the failure to examine all relevant CCTV and the lack of a proper procedure for workplace equality complaints. Consequently, the employer could not prove it took reasonably practicable steps to prevent the harassment. The €5,000 award was deemed just and equitable. Identities were redacted due to overlap with a separate Industrial Relations Act 1967 complaint requiring private hearings.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Waiter who was told 'go back to Brazil' awarded €5k. Procedural stage: hearing_or_decision

When:

• November 2021 Incident
• 2023-11-10 Publication

Why: This was because of the failure to examine "all relevant CCTV" and because witnesses had been allowed simply to write accounts of what happened rather than being interviewed, the adjudicator wrote. CNI source report

Case subjects

Places mentioned

Topics

Stage Hearing Or Decision

Read the original CNI report