The Workplace Relations Commission found that Mulligans Pharmacy did not discriminate against John Hennessy on grounds of disability after asking him to wait outside when he entered without a mask.
The WRC decision, dated 11 January 2023, said Hennessy had asthma, which was accepted as a disability. The adjudication officer found that he was asked to step outside so his order could be given to him, and that people unable or unwilling to wear a mask were treated the same.
The officer concluded that the pharmacy’s action was because Hennessy was not wearing a mask, rather than because he had asthma. Hennessy had argued that the pharmacy’s policy amounted to disability discrimination under the Equal Status Act. The complaint was found not well founded.