The Workplace Relations Commission found that Easy Lets Ni Ltd did not engage in discriminatory conduct in its handling of Patricia Herron’s Housing Assistance Payment application. The decision was dated 9 May 2022.
Herron said she paid a €700 deposit for a County Donegal property and repeatedly asked the landlord to complete Form B, which was needed for her HAP application. The deposit was later returned. Easy Lets said pandemic-related obstacles, including difficulty obtaining ownership and tax-clearance documents, delayed the tenancy and paperwork.
The adjudication officer found that communication with Herron was poor, but said that was not itself discrimination. The officer accepted that the documentation needed for the form could not be obtained at the time and found the obstacles to completing the tenancy were unrelated to Herron’s HAP application. Herron had not established facts from which discrimination could be inferred, so the complaint was not well founded.