The Workplace Relations Commission found that a member of the traveller community’s complaint about alleged discrimination and harassment over accommodation was brought outside the time limit. The complaint was statute barred, and the merits were not decided.
The WRC dated its decision 11 August 2023. The complaint concerned accommodation needs and alleged conduct in 2015. An Equal Status notification had been sent in February 2016, but the complaint was not referred to the WRC until June 2018. The adjudicator found that no exceptional circumstances justified dispensing with the notification requirements.
The complainant’s representative argued that the alleged conduct had continued and that the complaint was in time. The local authority argued that the complaint was late and that the County Council was the correct respondent. The adjudicator found the County Council was the service provider because its staff acted under its direction, but concluded that the complaint was outside the statutory time limit.