The Workplace Relations Commission found Báirbre Barrett’s disability discrimination complaint against Tralee Roast House Limited not well founded. The WRC decision, dated 27 January 2023, concerned her claim that the café refused to serve her during the Covid-19 pandemic because she could not wear a mask due to a disability.
The adjudication officer accepted that Barrett had PTSD and therefore had a disability. The officer found, however, that she did not provide documentary evidence or otherwise tell the proprietor the nature of her disability when challenged about her mask exemption. The officer concluded that the café could not be found to have discriminated when it had not been made aware of the disability.
The café denied discrimination, saying Barrett had not told the proprietor she had a disability or supplied proof of an exemption. It also argued that the complaint was out of time. The WRC accepted an email copied to it on 24 February 2022 as a valid submission, and proceeded to consider the discrimination complaint. The officer found no prohibited conduct under the Equal Status Acts.