The Workplace Relations Commission found Geraldine Fitzmaurice’s complaint against Crowes Grocery and Bakery Store not well founded in a decision dated 4 January 2023. Fitzmaurice alleged disability discrimination, harassment, victimisation and a failure to provide reasonable accommodation after an encounter at the store in Sixmilebridge, County Clare.
Fitzmaurice said she was medically exempt from wearing a face covering and was told to leave the premises. The respondent did not attend the hearing or provide evidence. The adjudication officer accepted that Fitzmaurice had a disability and a medical certificate, but found that she had not provided evidence of her disability to the service provider when seeking an exemption.
The officer found the discrimination and reasonable accommodation complaint not well founded, saying Fitzmaurice had not shown the service provider evidence of her disability. The harassment complaint also failed because she had not demonstrated that the treatment stemmed from her disability. The officer found that she had not established victimisation, including because she had not shown that she was treated less favourably than another person with a disability. The decision found against her on every aspect of the Equal Status Act complaint.