The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) was not liable for disability discrimination or harassment in its handling of Francis Eneas Kearney’s complaints, an adjudication officer decided in a ruling dated 17 December 2021. Kearney had complained that the WRC wrongly told him forms were mandatory, sent him 30 complaint forms and handled a phone call poorly.
The WRC accepted that it provided a service under the Equal Status Act and that Kearney had a disability. It said the emailed complaints were missing information and that it had assisted him. The officer found the form requirements and their delivery were not shown to be because of Kearney’s disability. Although two employees had separately told him forms were mandatory, there was insufficient evidence of an administrative practice requiring them.
The officer also found that neither the phone call nor sending the forms amounted to harassment. A manager corrected the information about the ES1 form, apologised and helped progress Kearney’s other complaints, which were later handled without either form being required. The complaint was found not well founded.