Syed Baqur Hussein loses race discrimination case at WRC

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Syed Baqur Hussein lost his race discrimination case against former employer One Complete Solution Limited at the Workplace Relations Commission. The decision was reported on 26 August 2025.

His complaint followed an incident at a Tesco store on Jervis Street, Dublin, in August 2022. Hussein admitted punching a suspected shoplifter but said he acted in self-defence after the man racially abused him and struck a colleague. He claimed the customer then lunged at him and punched him in the face several times. The report said the customer’s wife also kicked him in the face; he suffered serious facial injuries and required X-rays.

After an investigation and disciplinary hearing, Hussein received a final written warning and was demoted. He alleged that two Asian security personnel involved in the incident were sanctioned while a white European colleague faced no disciplinary action.

Adjudication officer Máire Mulcahy said Hussein had raised a presumption of discrimination. She said OCS explained the different treatment by saying he had hit the customer without being hit himself and had breached procedures. She noted that the other guard had tried to restrain the customer with open hands, while Hussein’s fists were clenched.

Mulcahy identified flaws in the disciplinary process, including a failure to provide Hussein with meeting notes and a failure to consider mitigating factors such as provocation. She said unfair treatment did not necessarily amount to discrimination and found that OCS had rebutted the inference of discrimination.

A separate race harassment complaint concerned an act outside statutory time limits, so the WRC lacked jurisdiction to consider it. Mulcahy recommended changes to the company’s bullying and harassment policy and workplace reminders of staff’s right to work free from racial harassment.