The Workplace Relations Commission found Graham Burke was not discriminated against after he said anxiety made wearing a face mask intolerable at work. The decision, dated 22 July 2022, concerned his work as an onsite IT support engineer at a Regeneron customer site in Limerick.
Burke alleged disability discrimination and said he needed an accommodation. Total ICT Services said the client required onsite workers to wear masks, allowed no exemptions and would not permit remote work or another accommodation.
The adjudicator accepted Burke’s situation as a disability for the analysis, without making a medical definition. The complaint failed because Burke had not identified an appropriate comparator treated more favourably, and the mask requirement was set by the client.