The Workplace Relations Commission found that Michael Murphy’s complaints against Waterford City and County Council were not well founded. Murphy said the Council discriminated against him on disability and housing assistance grounds and failed to reasonably accommodate him while he sought a suitable housing transfer. The decision was dated 29 April 2022.
Murphy said he requested a transfer in 2014 and received one in August 2021, after years in unsuitable accommodation. The Council said it had given him Medical Priority One status and that finding suitable housing could take time.
The WRC found he had not established a prima facie case of disability discrimination, noting that he gave no specific comparator details and that people with similar medical-priority timelines were also awaiting housing. It found the housing assistance complaint not well founded because he provided no evidence for it. The WRC accepted his frustration over the delay but found the Council could not be said to have refused or failed to accommodate him, although the process was not as timely as desirable.