WRC clears supermarket in coin payment discrimination complaint

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

A Workplace Relations Commission adjudicator dismissed a father’s complaint that a supermarket discriminated against his two children, who are members of the Traveller Community, during a €68 grocery purchase on 22 December 2023. The family said the children were refused service after a cashier asked whether they had anything larger than the 10c and 20c coins they presented.

The cashier told the WRC that she had counted €26.80 in coins and asked about another way to pay as a queue formed. The supermarket owner said she offered options for counting the remaining coins, but the father left the store during their conversation. The father’s account was that the children said they were not being served; the family alleged the incident was discriminatory.

Adjudicator Peter O’Brien found it reasonable to ask for larger-value coins or notes, noting that the law does not generally require acceptance of more than 50 coins in one transaction. He said the cashier’s request could have been made to any customer paying with a large amount of small change and concluded that she had not engaged in discriminatory or prohibited conduct. The complaint was ruled not well-founded.