The Workplace Relations Commission directed Atlantic Troy Limited T/A Charleville Park Hotel to pay Bridget O'Reilly €8,000 after finding it discriminated against her on housing assistance and Traveller community grounds. It also directed the hotel to revise its credit-card booking requirement.
In a decision dated 16 February 2022, adjudication officer Thomas O'Driscoll found that O'Reilly was refused accommodation after booking three nights for her family. The hotel said guests needed a credit card in a guest's name and argued the family was seeking a home rather than hotel accommodation. O'Reilly said she arrived with a debit card and a Department of Social Protection payment for the stay.
The officer found the hotel's witness inconsistent about a strict credit-card rule, and the booking evidence showed a debit card could be used. He found the hotel had adopted a position against accommodating people receiving housing assistance and that Traveller community membership was also a material factor in the refusal. He cited the refusal of emergency accommodation to a homeless family and O'Reilly's evidence of humiliation and distress. The case was heard alongside three related family complaints; their awards are separate.