The Workplace Relations Commission found a Traveller community member’s Equal Status complaint against a county council was out of time and that it had no jurisdiction to investigate it. The merits were not decided. The decision was dated 20 October 2022.
The complainant alleged discrimination and harassment because the council had not arranged basic sanitary or other services while permanent accommodation was pending. The council argued the complaint was late.
The adjudication officer found the ES.1 notification had been submitted in time, but the latest possible date of the alleged treatment was 23 December 2016. The complaint was outside the six-month limit. The officer found no reasonable cause to extend the deadline, noting the representative’s experience with WRC forms.