The WRC ordered a hotel to pay a complainant €3,000 after finding it directly discriminated against him because he is a member of the Traveller community. The decision, dated 14 December 2017, concerned refusal of access to the hotel restaurant on 13 March 2016.
The complainant said a doorman told him Travellers would not be served. The hotel said lunch was restricted to residents and customers with reservations for Mother’s Day and disputed his account. The adjudication officer accepted the complainant’s evidence as credible and uncontradicted by direct evidence from the hotel, and found his Traveller status was the reason he was refused access.
The officer said the compensation reflected the seriousness of the discrimination and the public humiliation caused by the refusal.