The Workplace Relations Commission found that Griffith College discriminated against Sofiya Kalinova on grounds of disability and ordered €3,000 redress. The decision was dated 29 June 2023.
Kalinova sought to join a 10-week King’s Inns entrance exam preparation course after it had begun. She asked the college for Irish Sign Language interpretation and a notetaker for the remaining lectures. The college did not provide the requested support, relying on its policy and its lack of access to public disability funding.
The adjudicator found the college’s fixed policy deterred an individual assessment of Kalinova’s needs and that the college made assumptions about the support she wanted. The college was also ordered to re-evaluate its Academic Learner Support Policy, particularly clauses 6.2 and 6.2.2, to ensure compliance with the Equal Status Act.