The Workplace Relations Commission found that a customer had not established that a retail chain discriminated against him through harassment on either the civil status or sexual orientation ground. Adjudication Officer Stephen Bonnlander dated the decision 9 April 2018.
The customer said people at the store made remarks about him on three occasions in 2017, including calling him a paedophile and saying he was gay and should be killed. He could not identify who had spoken. The chain said staff were required to wear name badges, and its witnesses denied knowing about or consenting to the customer’s recordings.
The officer excluded the audio recordings, finding it difficult to establish who was speaking and where the conversations took place, and noting they had been made without consent. He found the customer had not identified a staff member linked to the alleged incidents, so he had not established a case for harassment within the relevant six-month period. The WRC found no discrimination on either ground.