The Workplace Relations Commission found Emer McGrath’s disability discrimination complaint against retail store owner Mark Malone Today's Express was brought outside the time limit and was not well founded; the merits were not decided. The decision was dated 12 December 2022.
McGrath said she was exempt from wearing a mask because of her disability when she went to buy bread on 30 January 2021. Malone said customers had to wear face coverings during the Level 5 Covid lockdown.
The WRC received the complaint on 9 August 2021. The six-month time limit ran from the alleged discrimination, not from the date of an ES1 form. McGrath said she had misunderstood when the deadline began. The adjudication officer refused to extend the time, finding her reason was neither unforeseeable nor outside her control.