Trinity College wins discrimination complaint brought by former PhD student

The Workplace Relations Commission found Pedro Henrique De Almeida Bettio’s discrimination complaint against Trinity College Dublin was not well founded in a decision dated 28 February 2024. The officer also found he was not an employee and dismissed four complaints under employment and pensions laws as misconceived. Bettio, a postgraduate student who received an annual maintenance grant of €16,000, alleged discrimination on gender, race and Traveller-community grounds. Trinity argued he was not an employee and that his Equal Status complaint was outside the time limit. The officer found he had not shown discrimination on the basic facts and had not explained why he waited more than a year to complain.