The Workplace Relations Commission dismissed Olumide Smith’s Equal Status claim against Liam Duffy, dated 15 September 2022. Smith alleged that Duffy coughed in a threatening and offensive manner while he read a submission at a WRC hearing, and that this was discrimination, victimisation and harassment on racial grounds.
The adjudicator found that coughing was not a service or goods under the Equal Status Act and that Smith had not identified a basis for the claims. The complaint was dismissed as frivolous or vexatious under the Act.