The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) found that Julia Joyce had not established disability discrimination by Poundland Limited T/A Dealz, and that it had no jurisdiction to hear her separate complaint on Traveller-community grounds. The decision was dated 12 May 2022. The merits were decided on the disability claim; they were not decided on the Traveller-community claim.
Joyce alleged that a shop assistant treated her badly while she was trying to use the store’s scanning machines, and that the assistant called her “a gypsy”. The adjudicator accepted exceptional circumstances allowing the disability complaint to proceed despite the notice issue. But the WRC found the respondent did not know of Joyce’s disability before she sought help, and that the disability claim did not establish a prima facie case of discrimination.
The Traveller-community claim failed on a separate procedural ground. The adjudicator found that Joyce’s notice to Dealz did not mention the alleged name-calling or her Traveller-community membership, so the respondent was not put on notice of that complaint. The WRC therefore found it had no jurisdiction to hear it. Dealz had offered an apology and a €10 voucher before the decision; this was not a WRC award.